There is only ONE lie!
by LadyShadow26
Summary: Another year has Passed since the tRopIcal Land incident. For cOnan edOgawa Life couldnt get any Stranger. So He thought. It seems Now fate Is Changing tHings up agaIn. (now a multi chapter fic! hidden message in the summary)
1. APRIL Mystery

~ _ **Greetings and welcome to "There Is Only One Lie!" This was originally supposed to be a one shot, but it turned out a little longer than anticipated and thus will now be separated into a two shot. Its been in development for a while now and I finally got down to finishing it with help from my lovely beta/friend disconsolatemist so big thanks to her! (That's her title btw and also cover art belongs to her) That said... enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own none of the cast of Detective Conan. Gosho Aoyama is a brilliant writer and artist please support his original works!~**_

This was a nightmare. An absolute nightmare. Conan couldn't believe he was standing right here, staring down at his own, or rather, "Shinichi's" bleeding form. What had he done to deserve this? "Conan…take care of Ran and the rest of them. It's all up to you now." Conan stared in horror as he listened to the word's coming out of Shinichi's mouth. How had it come to this point?

Well, it all started just a short while ago…  
…

One week in late March, Shinichi, or "Conan" as he was currently known, received a rather ominous phone call. It seemed that his parents had decided that they were going to come and visit him. His father apparently had gotten some "time away" from his busy schedule and his mother had insisted that they spend that time with their little "Shin-chan." Conan shuttered.

It wasn't as if he didn't like his parents. For the most part despite their long absence from one another they got along just fine. His parents were also one of the few whom he could actually act like himself around. That was the problem though…he wasn't himself.

Over a year had passed since that fateful date at Tropical Land and the cure for his "little problem" had yet to be found. It was rather discouraging at this point actually, and his parents' arrival only further served to remind him of what he didn't have. As such he had been moping all week long, even as he spent time more time with them. He had even been able to spend time in his own house for a while, as Subaru Okiya was off at some convention or other. His parents hadn't gone into details, but he had guessed it had something to do with his father's influence.

Haibara Ai had also been conspicuously absent that week, having been supposedly been spending most of her time in the lab on the latest batch of antidote. In retrospect, it was probably Conan's own fault for pushing her so hard to work on it that had lead to her doing it, but he seriously couldn't help his anxiety over the matter.

That was why it came as little surprise when one day Conan received a note from Haibara asking him to "Come over immediately." To which he was only to happy to oblige. He was right next door, after all.

"What is it Haibara? Have you got something for me?" Conan stared at her in anticipation. Could it be possible she had made a breakthrough?

Haibara gave him a flat look, but there was definitely something hidden in her expression. "Yes Kudo-kun. I do. Though you shouldn't be so eager to try it. After all, I haven't tested it yet and it still holds a high probability of failure. If you try this there's a chance…"

"There's a chance it will stop working on my system and a high probability it will kill me. I know." Conan sighed. This wasn't the first time she had reminded him of the rather grim side of the antidote. He knew the risk well enough, but at this point he had become mostly numb to it. If he died it would leave his mission unaccomplished, but he held hope to the fact that if it did succeed he would accomplish that mission all the faster. After an entire year in this body, it was seriously a risk he was willing to take.

Haibara sighed and held out a pill for him. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. These pills can have some rather…strange side effects." She gave him a look that seemed to say "I'm not responsible for anything that happens to you from here-on out." He hesitated briefly, wondering if maybe she meant it this time. Still, he needed to at least try.

He grabbed the pill. "I'll keep that in mind."

Haibara rolled her eyes lightly at him. "Take this with it. It will help relax your nerves and make the transition easier." She handed him a smaller blue pill and a glass of water.

"Oh? Umm…thanks, I guess." Conan stared at the second pill, a bit confused. He didn't recognize it directly, but it resembled a sleeping capsule. Wasn't it a bad idea to mix medicine? Well, Haibara was a chemist so it wasn't all that strange, but still. "Isn't it a bad idea to mix medicines though?" He asked, quirking his eyebrow up in confusion.

Haibara stared at him, crossing her arms. "Oh I'm sorry, Kudo-kun, did you wish to experience the pain that comes with the transformation?" she gave him a rather hard to read look. "Really…you act as if you don't trust me."

Conan gulped a bit at her stare. It was not a good idea to cross one Haibara Ai. He quickly shook his head. "Right. Ummm…could you step out of the room then? I don't want to uh…transform in front of you." Conan's cheeks reddened a bit.

Haibara stood there for a moment as if contemplating before seemingly sighing in resignation. "Really Kudo, I'm a scientist. It's not as if I haven't seen _it_ before."

Conan found himself turning an even deeper shade of red until she spoke up once more. "I'm joking. You've got some extra clothes laying right there if you need them." She pointed at an area on the couch where a neatly folded shirt and pants lay. "I'll be in the other room. Good luck Kudo-kun." With that, she turned and left, leaving Conan alone with his thoughts.

"Thanks, Haibara. I think luck is just what I need right about now." With that, he sat down on the couch and consumed both pills simultaneously alongside the glass of water. It took a few minutes to take effect before he suddenly felt dizzy, and then it was as if the whole world around him began to spin. He could feel himself sweat, but just as Haibara said, he felt little of the usual pains that came with his transformation. And, just like that, he blacked out.

…

Conan woke drowsily to the sound of voices. He opened and shut his eyes a couple of times. His head was aching wildly with a pain similar to that of his first hangover.

"How long has he been out?" A male voice… Professor Agasa?

"About a half hour or so, I think. I can't believe he just kind of collapsed like that." A female voice…Haibara. Why would she be surprised he was passed out here? It was her antidote that left him like this after all.

"I know. This is all his cousin Shinichi's doing. If it weren't for him, Conan wouldn't nearly be so reckless." Was that his mother's voice? Only for some reason she sounded an awful lot like Fumiyo Edogawa at the moment. Well, that made some sense. She had dressed up as her earlier to spend time with him this week after all. Still… What the heck was she talking about? Ugh…he felt like he had just taken a hit from one of his own super-powered kicks. He fell back against the couch. Maybe he just needed a bit more rest.

"Hey, don't pin this on me. It's not my fault the kid likes to follow me around! Shouldn't you be blaming yourself for not being around enough to keep a better eye on him?" At this voice Conan tensed. He knew that voice…but it couldn't be…

"Shinichi, he is the one that insisted he stay with Kogoro-san. You should know better than any how taxing world travel can be on a child." 'Fumiyo' spoke once more. Okay, this was seriously getting weird. Just what the heck was going on here?

"Now is not the time for arguments you two. Shinichi, I know you care about your young cousin's well being, but his mother's got a point." Agasa put in.

That was enough for Conan. He quickly sat up and blinked slowly clearing, his vision. Four blurry figures appeared before him, staring back in sudden silence. "Conan-kun, you're awake! About time sleepy-head." Spoke the shortest one. He still couldn't see clearly, but he guessed it was Haibara, though something wasn't quite right about her tone of voice, and what did she just call him?

"I'd say… How are you feeling kid?" Conan flinched at the voice of the person who addressed him next. Wait did he just say... kid? Conan's eyes finally focused and he stared at his seven year old sized hands. That was strange... Had the antidote failed?

"He just collapsed on the sidewalk for no apparent reason, and has been passed out for the past half hour or so. How do _you_ think he feels?" Haibara stepped forward leaning next to Conan. "Hey you alright? You really scared us there." There was something in Haibara's tone that made him flinch. She sounded...concerned, but not in her usual manner it was more...kind.

Not to mention what had she just said? None of this was making any sense. He then turned to address the other person who had spoken to him, only to recoil back in surprise. Standing there before him, lifesize and in person was… "Shinichi Kudo?!" Okay, now he was completely lost. He stared in wide eyed confusion at the figure before him.

'Shinichi' blinked back at him, seemingly equally confused, though his face showed something else. "Yeah, that's me kid. Good to know you still remember me. Seriously though, Ai-chan's right, you really scared us all there. You sure you're feeling alright there, Conan-kun?"

Conan shook his head, trying to clear it. This situation had suddenly taken a rather bizarre and surreal turn. Okay, hold on a second there Conan. Focus. Remember everything has a logical answer.

A dream...right he was probably dreaming right now. Haibara had mentioned "odd side effects" to her latest antidote. Perhaps mixing it with that other medicine had left him in a perpetual dream-like state for a bit. Yes, that was the most logical conclusion. Though he had to admit this was by far one of the oddest dreams he had ever had.

Conan stared back into 'Shinichi's' eyes, silent. He certainly _seemed_ real enough. It was almost like he could reach up and touch him. Slowly, he reached up a hand, and with a slight tug, he pulled on 'Shinichi's' cheek, only for him to pull back with a yelp.

"Ouch!" Shinichi swore, pulling back. "Little brat...the heck was that for?" he stood there holding his sore cheek as Conan looked at him with a dazed expression.

Conan then went to do the same to his own cheek, testing the validity of his dream theory. He yelped as he felt the pain of his own pinch. Well, that certainly changed things.

Shinichi continued to rub at his sore cheek while Haibara seemingly did her best not to look amused at what had just occurred in front of her. Conan turned to her quickly. "Haibara, what the heck is going on here?"

Haibara gazed at him, a blank expression pasted on her face. "You must of hit your head harder than we thought Conan-kun. Do you seriously not remember passing out?" she looked at him with that same strange concerned expression from earlier.

Conan stared back at her confused, shaking his head. What was he supposed to say in this situation…

Suddenly, Fumiyo cut in. "Conan. Is everything alright, sweetie? Do we need to take you to the doctor? Come on, tell mommy where it hurts." Conan stared at 'Fumiyo', his head suddenly throbbing again, though it was more from confusion than anything. Why was his mother playing up the part of Fumiyo like this? There was something seriously wrong here. He glanced at the other three faces around him, all wearing different degrees of muted concern, though Agasa wore a slightly different, almost nervous expression.

Conan was quick to latch on to this. "Professor...whats going on here?" he continued to glance back and forth between Agasa and the others, whose expressions remained the same.

Conan watched as a somewhat guilty expression suddenly crossed Agasa's eyes, but before he could step in and question him, a new voice joined the group, which made Conan's eyes widen once more. "Agasa I've come to return some...Oh Conan-kun! Fumiyo-san, I didn't know you were visiting! What a pleasant surprise." Conan stared wide-eyed at the new arrival. He'd recognize that cheerful face and voice anywhere. Yukiko Kudo. But if that was Yukiko than...he turned to face Fumiyo, who rose to greet the new arrival.

"Yukiko! I'm so glad to see you. I'm sorry I didn't call ahead of time. This was a rather last-minute visit after all, what with Ran and Kogoro being out of town. I wanted to have Shinichi-kun look after him, but you know how your son is..." Fumiyo grinned wildly at Yukiko, hugging her lightly. Yukiko returned the grin. This was seriously getting stranger by the moment. Why was his mom reacting so casually to this stranger who was clearly someone in disguise. At least...he thought she was. Now, he wasn't so sure. Nothing was adding up here.

Conan glanced back at Shinichi, who wore a bored expression on his face as he rolled his eyes at Fumiyo. "Obasan, you know I'm busy with cases and stuff. I don't have time to babysit this brat on top of that!"

Yukiko crossed her arms, a light glare crossing her features. "You shouldn't speak to your relative like that Shin-chan! It's impolite." she turned to face Fumiyo. "Sorry about that Fumiyo-san. Honestly, I thought we raised him better than that. I'm sure he will have no problem watching little Conan-kun for the rest of the day while we catch up with each other. Will you, Shin-chan?"

"Okaa-san!" Shinichi seemed ready to protest, but Yukiko's look was enough to make him bite his lip. He then turned to Agasa. "Come on Professor, back me up here. You know how busy I am." He glanced at Haibara. "Besides, aren't you the ones who were saying earlier I'm a bad influence on him? I wouldn't want him to get into any more trouble…" He looked pleadingly at both of them, clearly outnumbered.

Conan flinched. It was strange watching Shinichi's expressions and hearing his voice right in front of him. It was like looking into a mirror. Albeit, a rather blurred one. What was even more bizarre was how he almost felt sympathetic towards Shinichi in this situation. He certainly wouldn't enjoy being forced to watch a child all day long…

What was he saying? He was no child, and this boy, however similar, was not Shinichi. This was all messed up. He needed to pull Haibara aside and see if he could get some answers. It was just after taking her antidote that he ended up in such a state after all, and she and Agasa seemed like the only "normal" people here.

He quickly grabbed on to Haibara's hand, pulling her to the side despite her light protesting. He overheard something along the lines of "young love" exit his mother's mouth, but he choose to ignore it continuing forward without looking back.

He pulled Haibara into the Professor's kitchen where they could talk in secret with one another. "Alright Haibara. Now, can you answer my earlier question? Just what the heck is going on here?" He stared at her quickly, taking note of the unreadable expression on her face, though it seemed to be a cross between fear and confusion.

Haibara shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about, Conan-kun. You collapsed earlier and your cousin and I brought you here for Oji-san Agasa to look at." she stared back at him, that same earlier look of concern crossing her face. It was seriously starting to creep him out.

Conan shook his head in disbelief... "You mean you don't remember giving me the antidote?" he blinked at her, locking gazes with her while she stood there looking for all accounts as young as she appeared.

There was a slightly fearful expression on her face now as she took a step back. She shook her head rapidly. "An-ti-dote?" Haibara seemed to struggle with the word before a lightbulb seemed to turn on in her head. "Oh I get it... like that thing they give to people on tv when they got bit by a spider or something." Haibara's face seem to brighten. "I remember now!"

Conan looked at her expectantly. Up to that point, she had him a bit worried with her slightly childish act, but she was probably just teasing him...right?

Apparently not. "You were playing detective again with Shinichi-nii weren't you?" she grinned at him and he found himself withdrawing at the creepy childlike look on her face. This was most definitely _not_ the Haibara he knew.

He paused, chuckling nervously. "Come on Haibara this isn't funny, you're pulling my leg, right?" He gazed at her, unsure what to make of her odd expression. "We both know that I'm..."

"Shinichi-nii!"

"Well, it seems you two are having an interesting conversation." Conan whirred around suddenly to see Shinichi standing against the doorway casually. "Mind if I cut in Ai-chan?" he bent down gazing down at Haibara a strangely smug grin on his face. Conan shuttered a bit. It really was like he was looking at himself, and that made the situation all the more disturbing.

He still had a rather sizely headache, and it seemed to only increase every time he tried to piece what was going on together. There was definitely something suspicious going on here, or his name wasn't Shinichi Kudo. Though, by the way these people were talking and acting...that wasn't his name. Every time he seemed to be getting close to an answer he was interrupted. It was almost eerie the way things were working out. He had his suspicions from the start, but they continued to be disproven by the very existence of two key players here. One of which was standing right before him.

Well, perhaps he could make use of this situation. Shinichi wore a grin that seemed to say he knew a whole lot more than he was letting on. Perhaps everything. Either way, spending more time with him would certainly provide him with the answers he was searching for. For now, he would play his part. He put on his most childish expression and jumped up and down. "Oh boy is Shinichi-nii going to take us out to lunch?"

Shinichi blinked down at Conan, seemingly surprised at the sudden change in attitude. "Yeah squirt, mom says I have to take you two kids out for a while. The adults are having an important discussion." He sighed, as if slightly annoyed by the prospect. Though, it could be interpreted as he wanted to stay and be part of said discussion.

Conan glanced at Haibara, trying to read her reaction to this, but she continued to wear an ignorant look. If she was acting, she was not showing it at this point. Could it be he was still misreading this whole situation? Conan held his head in frustration as his headache increased once more.

"You doing alright kid? Look, if you don't want to come along, you could just say so. I'm sure you want to spend some more time with your mom while she's here, after all." Shinichi wore the same confusing concerned look as earlier. It almost made Conan want to go lay back down.

Conan shook his head. No, he had made up his mind. He was going to get to the bottom of this mystery, one way or another. The best way he could do that right now was sticking close to "Shinichi". "I'm fine, just a little headache! I want to go get something to eat with Shinichi-nii!" he smiled up at Shinichi, continuing to put on his best kiddy face.

Shinichi paused for a moment, putting his hand beneath his chin in his signature thinking pose. He seemed to be contemplating what to do in this situation. He didn't stay like that for long, though, as he stood up to his full height and smiled down at Conan and Haibara. "Well, I guess I have no choice then. Come on, let's go get some lunch."

Conan stared back at Shinichi for a moment, trying to take in what had just happened. He seriously couldn't believe what he was witnessing here. Shinichi was acting...well, like himself. It was seriously creeping him out. He needed to find out what was going on here and fast, before he started actually believing all this was real.

Conan was further surprised when Haibara ran up to Shinichi and grabbed his hand, smiling up at him. "Yay, I can't wait to eat with Shinichi-nii!" she jumped up and down, ever the excited seven year old. Okay, this was officially disturbing. Haibara _never_ jumped that way. She was acting like Ayumi-chan. Almost like...no, he couldn't think that way. That was impossible. Wasn't it?

Conan watched as Shinichi smiled down at Haibara, as if everything was perfectly normal. He then turned to walk away. Conan just stood there in contemplative silence. There was a puzzle here, he just knew it. All that was left was to assemble the missing pieces.

He slowly began to retrace his steps. It had all started out like any other day. Things had only gone wonky after that note from Haibara. She had sounded a bit rushed, but he had thought nothing of it at the time. Thinking back, maybe that should have been his first clue that something odd was going on.

Then she had given the antidote with her usual warning. Though, now that he thought about it, she had mentioned something strange then, too. What was it? _"These pills can have some rather strange side effects."_ What exactly had she meant by that statement?At the time, he had thought she had been referring to her usual warning. Had she already known somehow that something like this was going to happen?

Then there was the other pill she had given him alongside the usual antidote. Had that somehow played a factor as well? It made a strange sort of sense. If that "pain relaxing" pill had somehow made his body numb to the point of exhaustion, then it was possible that this was all one big dream, or hallucination. Still, it certainly _felt_ real enough. He had even gone so far as to pull both Shinichi's and his own cheek, and that had hurt! It was still possible he could of imagined it, but the dull sensation he felt still seemed to indicate otherwise.

"When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains no matter how improbable…" his favorite quote echoed in his mind, setting him off balance. Was it really possible? Could the pill Haibara had given him send him to an alternate place where Conan existed? A pill that could shrink one to the size of a child was one thing, but one that could send a person to an alternate universe entirely...how would that even work? By all scientific means, such a thing didn't exist. Yet here he was, standing staring at living proof.

Shinichi turned around to face Conan "Hey, you coming Conan? Come on, we don't have all day!" Shinichi called from the doorway, breaking Conan from his thoughts.

"Coming!" Conan called back. Whatever the case may be he would find out soon enough. For now, he needed to follow this "Shinichi" and find out all he could about the world he was currently inhabiting. Maybe he could get Haibara to reverse this later, somehow.

…

"Ah Kudo-kun, welcome! It's been a while. Ah, and who's this? I see you've brought little Edogawa-kun and another little friend as well." Conan stared up at the middle-aged man that stood before him. He didn't recognize the face, though he had a feeling like he knew this person from somewhere. As far as he could remember he had never been to this restaurant before though. This immediately struck him as odd, as this person apparently knew who both he and Shinichi were.

"Hello, Sasaki-san. Yeah, sorry about that." Shinichi reached up and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I have been rather busy lately, and my relative wanted me to watch these two in the meantime. I thought this would be a good place to eat some lunch."

"Ah, I see. Well, I certainly can't fault your good taste." Sasaki chuckled glancing down at Conan. Conan flinched backwards under the man's gaze. Yes, there was definitely something familiar about this guy. He was wearing a rather ugly looking maroon tie around his neck that was fixed with a gaudy looking clasp. He had an unsettling look in his dark indigo eyes as he gazed down at Conan. Was that amusement? "What would the young detective in training like to eat today?"

Conan stared up at the man, flinching at his words. Shinichi quickly stepped in front of him however. "Sasaki-san, you shouldn't tease Conan-kun like that. I already got yelled at by his mother earlier for him following me around the way he does."

Conan glanced between the two, taking note of the strange looks the two shared. It was like there was an unspoken conversation going on between the two of them. Before he could comment on this however, Haibara broke in. "Shinichi-nii, I'm really hungry!" She whined.

Sasaki turned to address Haibara. "Ah, my apologies little miss. I'll show you to your table then." He grinned a strange sort of crooked smile. Conan got the distinct feeling he knew that smile from somewhere. Still, he tossed it aside as irrelevant for now.

Conan took a quick glance at the restaurant around him. For all appearances, it seemed to be a pretty normal looking Japanese-style restaurant. Although, there were some clear American touches to it as well. Strange. Why did this place feel so familiar? What was even more peculiar was despite this being the rush time of day, there were little to no other customers here at this particular restaurant.

"Well, kid are you just going to stand there gawking all day, or are you going to come and eat?" Shinichi stood with his hands on his hips. Conan was shaken from his thoughts once more as he realized he was once again the only one left standing in the door.

"Hai!" he said, running to sit next to the others. He quickly took notice of the fact that there were chairs next to the table that were just low enough for a child of his stature to reach. He easily climbed up into his, taking note of just how easy it was to slide in. Curious...it was if the owner knew that he did not like having to get help in reaching the table. Then there was that strange sensation of familiarity at this place and the owner…

"Here's a menu for you, Edogawa-kun." Sasaki placed a menu in Conan's hands, nearly causing him to jump out of his chair in surprise. He quickly caught himself. He glanced over at Shinichi and Haibara who seemed to have not noticed, both with their heads in their respective menus. Conan took note of the fact that Haibara seemed to be struggling with something.

"What is it, Haibara?" He asked an inquisitive look on his face.

Haibara blushed, which caused Conan to flinch back in surprise. He was still getting used to her rather odd behavior.

"I can't read this." she said, staring at the menu in frustration.

Conan stared at her, slack jawed. Shinichi chuckled a bit. "Sorry Haibara-chan, I'm so used to this I nearly forgot." He quickly grabbed at her menu. "Do you happen to have a kid's menu?" he looked at Sasaki, who nodded lightly handing him a different menu. Shinichi then turned to Conan "What about you Conan? Would you like a kid's menu?"

Conan shook his head. "No...I...I'm fine…" he quickly recomposed himself. Right, he was in public. It was probably best he also put on his best "kiddie" act right now. Still, it felt so strange seeing Haibara act like that. It was...unworldly. "I'm a big boy just like Shinichi-nii!" Conan smiled up at Shinichi, despite the discomfort he was feeling at this point.

"Is that so?" Shinichi smiled down at Conan, and Conan flinched under his gaze. Shinichi then turned back to Sasaki. "Well, why don't we start out with a couple of drinks for these two and the usual for me." Conan watched as Sasaki nodded and jotted the information on his note pad.

"Mmm so that's two milks and an iced coffee. Got it. Anything else?"

Conan noticed that Sasaki had turned briefly to look at him before readdressing Shinichi. Shinichi shook his head. "I think that will be all for now. Thanks."

Conan immediately took notice of the fact that Shinichi had been purposefully vague about what he was ordering, and yet somehow Sasaki had known exactly what he wanted. What was even stranger was the order...iced coffee. That was _his_ favorite drink.

Conan stared at Shinichi after their drinks had been delivered. Shinichi sipped lightly on the fresh iced coffee looking blissful. He suddenly noticed Conan staring, slowly putting the drink down. "Is there something on my face?" he raised an eyebrow at Conan, confused.

Conan quickly shook his head, staring wistfully at the deliciously tempting drink and licking his lips.

Shinichi chuckled. "Ah I see. You want some? Fumiyo-obasan will probably kill me if she knew I let you have some of this...still, I don't see any reason why not." he held the drink out, and Conan grabbed it eagerly.

Shinichi laughed. "You know, I've always loved that stuff. They say it's bad for you, but it helps me think clearly. It's especially useful after difficult cases."

Conan stared at Shinichi, only half listening to what he was saying. He was too busy taking in the delicious taste. Whomever had made this coffee had made it exactly the way he liked it. It further went to show that this was no dream he was in. This taste was too real.

"Hey kid, slow down! Leave some for me!" Shinichi grabbed back at the cup. Conan felt the urge to growl angrily at him and snatch the cup back, but withheld just barely. "Aww, you drank most of it…" Shinichi frowned at the now mostly-empty cup.

Conan gazed back longingly. How long had it been since he had last truly had the chance to sip that glorious concoction? Even while his parents were visiting, he had been mostly forbidden from the stuff due to his mom's incessant nagging. His father had been the one that got him hooked on the stuff in the first place, though. So at the very least, he understood.

Come to think of it...this coffee…it tasted like the rare kind his father had once picked up on one of his many world trips. Hmm… Conan turned to look at Shinichi who was finishing off the last of the cup. "Shinichi-nii, do you know where this coffee comes from?"

Shinichi paused a minute, turning to Conan, a strangely blank expression on his face. "I didn't know a grade schooler would be so interested in the origins of a silly adult beverage." he stated plainly, not missing a beat.

Conan lowered his eyebrows in thought for a second, taking note of the sudden sweat forming at the edge of Shinichi's neck. "But you're a detective Shinichi-nii! I thought detectives knew everything!"

Shinichi lowered his eyebrows. "Tch. Fine if you must know it's…"

"A trade secret." Conan and Shinichi both jumped as Sasaki suddenly reappeared. Haibara sat in continued silence, seemingly enjoying her milk, not taking note of the sudden arrival. "I'm sure you can appreciate that some secrets are best left unrevealed. Right, little detective-in-training?"

Conan stared back at Sasaki, suddenly feeling that all-familiar look on him once more. There was something truly unsettling about this guy. "Err, right!" he smiled his best kiddy smile and quickly grabbed at his abandoned milk carton, gulping it down. "Mmm. This is really good, Sasaki-san!"

Sasaki's features seemed to soften a bit. "I'm glad you like it. Would you like to order some food now?"

Before Conan could answer, there was a sudden blood curtling scream resounding from outside. Followed by, "He's dead!"

Conan lept up from his seat by instinct and started running in the direction of the voices. He ignored Shinichi's cries from behind him to stay put. It was but a moment before he reached it, followed by Shinichi with an unreadable expression.

There lay a man, his body stone-still on the ground. It was obvious he had fallen from a great height. Conan slowly looked up at the apartment building above, eyes narrowing. This...this was murder. There was no doubt about it. His day had officially just gone from bad to worse.

 _ **~Thus ends part 1 of 2 of this two shot. The second part should be coming up some tme within the next few days, but I make no promises of that (Honestly life happens. I'll do my best, but sometimes things just dont work out) I really enjoyed writing this first part. I dont know if you all have figured out what is going on here yet, but I DO promise all will be revealed in the next part ;)**_

 _ **For those of you following my other story the next chapter of VMMM should be out within the next couple of weeks. I apologize for the long delay. Thanks again for reading/being patient!~**_


	2. Chapter 2

THERE IS ONLY ONE LIE PART DEUX

 _ **~Apologize for the wait. I present to you part 2 of There is only one lie. Big thanks to all who reviewed last chapter. Especially big shout out to my lovely beta reader DisconsolateMist without which this story would not be nearly as polished. :D**_

 _ **Standard disclaimer: These characters are borrowed. They do not in any way belong to me. Please support the original creator!**_

 _ **All that out of the way: Enjoy!~**_

Conan couldn't believe his own rotten luck. It really seemed like there was some god up there who hated him or something. Well, if he were so inclined to believe in such a thing. Dead bodies seemed to crop up wherever he went like some sort of messed up curse. Now, they were literally falling from the sky.

He glanced upwards at the apartment complex above him. He cursed inwardly as he turned back to the body beneath him. There was blood covering the pavement, and the body itself was contorted in a rather uncomfortable position. It was pretty clear the cause of death at this point. Though, any idiot with half a brain could figure out a near ten story drop was enough to kill someone instantly.

That said, there was something odd about the victim's head wound. He couldn't be completely sure, but there seemed to be something there that looked an awful lot like glass wedged in the wound. Before he could examine it closer, however, he felt a powerful hand pulling him upwards. Conan struggled under the iron grip he found himself in. "W-ah! Hey, let me go!" he tried to maneuver himself out of his assailants hands, only to find himself being dragged away from the scene. He glanced upwards glaring at the hooded figure who had ahold of him. He couldn't get a good look at the person's face, but he couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about it.

He suddenly realized who it was as a thick kansai accent spoke out. "Oi Kudo, isn't this your brat? You really should keep a better eye on him he's disturbing the scene!" He glanced upwards once more as he found himself being thrown into Shinichi's arms. Shinichi, who had been standing looking slightly dazed this entire time, caught Conan, stumbling backwards only slightly as he did so.

"Hattori?! What the Hell are you doing here?" Shinichi and Conan spoke in sync as they blinked at one another in surprise. Conan paused, continuing to glance between Shinichi and Heiji. Okay, this situation had once again taken a turn for the bizarre. He carefully watched Shinichi lock eyes with Heiji, readjusting his position so that Conan was still under his grip, but had a bit more freedom of movement.

For a while, they just stood there seemingly in stunned silence looking each other over as if in silent conversation. It seemed pretty clear that Shinichi hadn't expected Hattori to just show up out of the blue like that. Though, honestly, Conan himself was quite used to his spontaneity at this point. Still, he found himself questioning things once more as he remembered Heiji's words upon his arrival. What had he meant by "this brat."?

Heiji was the first to break the silence. "What, can't I come and visit my favorite rival from da East every once in awhile?" Heiji kept his eyes locked with Shinichi's, seemingly ignoring Conan now. ""Sheesh Kudo. Ya act as if yer upset dat I showed up here. Probably just worried I'll beat ya to da culprit." Heiji grinned wildly at Shinichi while Conan just continued to stare in wide eyed confusion. Not him too…

Shinichi chuckled, seemingly broken from his earlier reverie as he grinned right back at Heiji. "Of course you show up just as a body falls from the sky. I should have expected no less from you, oh great Detective-of-the-west." Conan heard Shinichi mumbling some other unsavory things under his breath, but he couldn't make out much of it. Though, it was strange because he could have sworn he briefly noticed something resembling relief cross Shinichi's features. Though it was gone in an instant, making him question whether he had saw it there at all.

Conan turned back to Heiji, watching as he waved Shinichi off. "From what I hear, yer the one dat alway's stumbles over da dead bodies. I just happened to be in da area this time is all." He paused as if contemplating something before shaking his head. "Dats besides da point though. Like I said earlier, ya need ta keep a better eye on dat brat apprentice of yers. He was disturbin' da scene again!" Heiji turned to Conan for the first time since throwing him at Shinichi. Conan shuttered a bit under the look he was giving him. It so resembled their first and second meetings with one another, just like before Heiji had discovered the truth. He was looking at him as if he were a child.

Shinichi sighed. "Seriously, why do people keep blaming me for losing track of the kid? For the thousandth time...he is not my apprentice! Though, it is kind of cool that he and his friends like to play detective. He and that gang of his remind me a lot of Holmes Baker Street Irregulars." Shinichi put his free hand under his chin, looking off into the distance.

Conan couldn't fault Shinichi's logic in this case. He himself had often had that thought when hanging out with the Tantei-dan. It was part of the reason he was always so willing to put up with them. True, their observational skills were lacking in comparison to his own, but they had a lot of potential. Conan got lost in his own thoughts as he did his own identical thinking pose beneath Shinichi.

He was broken from his thoughts when he heard Heiji laugh. "Ya know, for a couple of distant relatives who don't see each other all dat often, ya really do resemble one another." Conan glanced up at Shinichi, who was indeed wearing a very similar expression on his face at that moment. It was uncanny. For the umpteenth time that day Conan found himself wondering just what sort of strange situation he had stumbled into. This Shinichi Kudo was so much like himself, if he didn't know better he would swear it _was_ himself.

Shinichi himself seemed to be thinking something along the same lines, even as he stared down at Conan. "I don't really know if I should take that as a compliment or not." he smiled lightly down at Conan. "I do admit little Conan here certainly lives up to his namesake. Even if he could never quite be as good a detective as Holmes. Or me, for that matter." Shinichi chuckled lightly seemingly laughing at his own inside joke.

Conan watched as Heiji rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Holmes is overrated anyway." Heiji shook his head, ignoring the glares both Conan and Shinichi sent his way. "So, Ya up for a bit of a deduction battle again old friend?" he grinned at Shinichi, seemingly ignoring Conan's presence once more.

Conan glanced up at Shinichi who nodded casually, though there was something else hidden in his expression. "Sure. Though I should probably drop the kid back off at the cafe with his girlfriend. Sasaki's a reliable guy, he should be able to watch the two of them while we take a closer look at the scene here."

Conan's eyes widened in shock. Was Shinichi being serious right now? He ignored the 'girlfriend' comment, instead focusing on the fact that Shinichi was seemingly ready to leave him with a complete stranger just to get him out of the way for a while. Although it was true Sasaki and Shinichi seemed well acquainted, he himself didn't know the guy, let alone trust him. Not to mention the fact he wanted in on this little deduction match, if only to watch how Shinichi seemingly handled a crime scene.

No. He wasn't going to let this happen. He was here and he was going to make sure he was part of this, one way or another. "Shinichi-nii! I want to help! I'll be good, I promise!" Conan looked up at Shinichi, laying the cute kid act on thick. Shinichi stared down at him, his face stubbornly set.

"Cut it out, kid. You know that won't work on me…" Shinichi's face wavered ever so briefly. Conan could tell he was slowly breaking through. Seemed he really needed to turn up the charm to make this work.

"Please Shinichi-nii! I really do want to help." he widened his eyes a bit more, putting his lip out in a pout. He felt slightly embarrassed, acting this way, but he was not going to lose this battle.

"Gah! Okay. Geesh, you've been spending too much time with my mom. Turn down the acting skills a bit there, kid." Shinichi shook his head, sighing. "Your mom will probably kill me for this…"

Conan grinned a wide, toothy grin and grabbed Shinichi's hand. "It will be alright, Shinichi-nii! After all, I'm with two of the world's greatest detectives, right?" he continued to grin as they turned to face Heiji, who had been standing there waiting.

"Guess we've got no choice but to bring the kid along." Shinichi sighed once more, though Conan took note of the same strange sign of relief he had seen earlier. That was odd...

Heiji raised a skeptical eyebrow at them, then just shrugged. "Whatever. If ya think ya need the handicap, feel free ta use yerr 'not-apprentice'. Just don't come crying ta me when the kid get's nightmares."

Shinichi noticeably flinched at the word "nightmare", but it was as brief as the earlier expression. He nodded casually. "Believe me, it will be like the kid's not even there. I'll have this murder solved in no time flat."

Heiji chuckled "Dat's my line. Well let's go see what da police have come up with so far." He quickly ran over to the area where the body lay. The police had arrived some time in the interval of the conversation and were blocking off the area with the usual tape.

Shinichi and Conan followed closely behind. Conan took note of the fact that Shinichi's face had turned a bit pale though it may of just been the lighting. Yes this was the perfect opportunity to observe 'Shinichi' at work. Maybe now he would finally get some answers. Well after he solved this mystery of course...there was no way he was going to let Heiji just have this one. It would be a problem without Sleeping Kogoro around, but this Shinichi would surely make a good substitute in a pinch.

…

It hadn't taken long for the police to arrive. Megure-Keibu had, of course, been more than happy to see Shinichi at the scene. He had greeted him rather enthusiastically, and Shinichi had seemingly returned the enthusiasm. When Megure had inquired where Shinichi had been the past few months Shinichi had been rather taciturn in his reply simply citing the excuse of "I've been on a rather important and confidential case." to which Megure had just nodded knowingly and assured him that his help with this case would remain anonymous if he so desired. Shinichi had nodded "I'd appreciate that." he smiled, standing casually.

This distracted Conan somewhat. Now he knew very well the reason why he himself had been missing for quite some months. The "case" he was on was indeed both important and confidential, but he hadn't thought anything about this "Shinichi" being in similar circumstances. If this were indeed an alternate world where Conan and Shinichi coexisted then...had he ever even met the Black Organization here? Then there was Haibara's odd behavior earlier to consider… It was as if she herself were also a completely different person like...the Black Organization had never existed at all.

Conan felt a large headache forming once more as he tried to wrap his head around the facts presented before him. He was broken from his thoughts, however, as he heard his name being mentioned in conversation. "Conan-kun here will be acting as my assistant today. I hope you don't mind,, Keibu." Shinichi motioned down at Conan who trotted over to him curiously. Earlier he had seemed reluctant to have him helping him with the case.

Megure shook his head and shrugged. "I trust you Kudo-kun. Though make sure to keep an eye on him. Mouri seems to have a rather hard time doing that." Megure mumbled something under his breath that Conan couldn't quite hear, though he could tell it was nothing flattering.

"Well if he don', I will." came a heavy accent from the side. Megure, Shinichi, and Conan turned to find Heiji standing there having apparently been waiting for their conversation to end. "An' I bet I could do a better job at dat, too." he grinned, glancing briefly down at Conan before turning back to Shinichi, who was giving him a rather unpleasant look at the moment. "Kudo here's a pretty bad babysitter 'imself."

This received two equally vicious glares from the party of both Conan and Shinichi. Megure cleared his throat. "Oh, Hattori-kun! What a surprise to see you here." Conan couldn't exactly read Megures expression. As far as he could tell, the inspector was both relieved and a little annoyed at the Osakan's presence here.

"Yeah, I was in da area an' thought I'd offer my help. Can't let Kudo have all da fun." Heiji grinned wider, and both Shinichi and Conan groaned.

Megure sweatdropped and chuckled lightly. "Right. Well, I suppose we can use all the help we can get." his expression became more reserved. Megure motioned for the two of them to follow and the case and subsequent match of wits began.

...

As it turned out, Shinichi was a pretty observant detective on his own. Conan's doubts as to Shinichi's abilities were all but abated after Conan took note of just how absolutely dedicated Shinichi was to this case. He had proven his deductive prowess through being able to piece together the true culprit with only a few minor hints from Conan. Shinichi had acted almost identical to himself in every way, save for his initial examination of the corpse.

Conan recalled how strange and almost melancholic Shinichi's expression had been upon examining the body. It was almost like he was lost in some sort of memory. It seemed like he was empathizing with the victim in a way Conan couldn't quite put his finger on.

Conan had seen enough corpses that he himself had become rather numb to it all over the years. This didn't quite seem to be the case with Shinichi, though it was still clear in his eyes he had seen enough death before. Actually, Shinichi's expression mirrored Conan's own after the Moonlight Sonata and subsequent Bond's of Fire case. * He recognized it as a look of utter regret and frustration. It was surprisingly subtle, but it was definitely there.

He noticed it again after the culprit had been revealed, and the body officially removed from the scene. Shinichi's face was downturned in a frown,, his expression pained. Heiji was caught up in the follow up conversation with the police, so Conan felt now was was good a time as any to confront Shinichi. Using his best kiddiee act, he turned up the innocent level and pulled lightly on Shinichi's pant leg to get his attention.

"What's wrong, Shinichi-nii?" Conan asked, sounding as concerned as a young child possibly could. Sometimes, as much as it annoyed him, there were advantages to being a child. He had found people were much more willing to open up their secrets to him. Though, it was very possible that Shinichi would see through his ruse.

Still, it wasn't all an act. Despite the fact this Shinichi was still very much a stranger,, he couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards him as he stared off at the retreating ambulance. This was never an easy situation for anyone involved. No matter how many times he had seen it, he could never understand a person's reasoning for murder.

Conan felt Shinichi flinch a bit under his light grip and child-like stare. Still, his expression remained difficult to read. Finally he replied, "It's nothing, kid. You're too young to understand yet but...I'll never understand why a person feels the need to commit murder. I just wish there were some way we could've stopped this." Conan watched as Shinichi balled his hands in fists before relaxing, his voice dropping to a barely audible whisper as if talking to himself. "I can't let my personal feelings get in the way." he turned and smiled lightly down at Conan, though his eyes betrayed him. He was really taking this case hard. Conan stared back at him, unsure what to say. It was really surreal seeing his own face look so upset. It was rather distracting... wait, what was it he had just said?

Conan stared at Shinichi, wide-eyed. He had practically just quoted his own thoughts back at him. Okay...so, this wasn't the strangest occurrence that had had happened today, but it most definitely went further to prove that this Shinichi was exactly who he said he was. Conan paused, trying to calm his racing heart. Once again, he was faced with the impossible truth. The person standing before him was Shinichi Kudo in the flesh. So if that were true...then what did that make him?

This time it was Shinichi's turn to look concerned. "Hey kid, you sure you're doing alright? You look kind of pale…" Conan blinked up at him, trying his best not to focus on the fact that he was essentially talking to _himself_ at this point.

"I'm...not sure." Conan replied, forgetting his kiddie act for a moment. "I feel kind of...dizzy." he held his hand to his head, swaying lightly.

"Woah kid, don't pass out on me!" Shinichi caught Conan and placed him back on his feet. "Seriously, your mom is going to murder _me_ at this point. I never should have agreed to this."

Conan tried his best to concentrate on what Shinichi was saying, but he was still caught up in his own thoughts. His mother. Edogawa Fumiyo. The woman who wasn't supposed to exist, and yet somehow _did_. It was all just catching up with him now just how messed up this entire situation was.

"Agreed to what?" Heiji suddenly reappeared, nearly scaring Conan half to death and causing both he and Shinichi to jump. "Woah sorry Conan. Didn' mean to spook ya. We're all finished Kudo, but they need yer statement yet. I'll watch the kid fer a minute while ya go talk to the inspector."

Conan watched Shinichi nod lightly, though he still looked concerned over something. "Thanks. I'll be right back Conan. Hey, after this maybe we should get some ice cream."

Conan just stared at him, a blank expression on his face. He wasn't sure how to respond. Eventually, he just settled on nodding.

Shinichi shook his head and shrugged. "Okay, I'll be right back." He ran off towards the inspector and left Conan behind with a silent Heiji.

"Ya know, he really surprises me with his skills sometimes…" Heiji mumbled as he watched Shinichi's retreating figure.

Conan glanced up at him, still confused. It sounded like he was actually admitting defeat in some way. That was a bit out of character for the Heiji he knew. Still, everyone in this world seemed to be acting slightly out of character, so he should not of been so surprised in this case.

"Not dat I'll admit it ta his face, though. Guys got a serious ego. I doubt he would ever let me live it down." he shook his head, grinning.

Conan couldn't help but snort a bit at the accusation. He had to admit it was really odd getting to actually see himself...well...Shinichi solve a case. He hadn't realized before just how ridiculous he looked at times.

"Ya were pretty good back there by the way, kiddo. I was surprised at how well the two of ya worked together. If I didn't know better, I'd say yer the one that actually solved the case." he continued to grin down at Conan, his eyes sparkling with a bit of mischief. "I can't believe I lost to da two of ya. I'd almost call it unfair."

"You're the one that agreed to it." Shinichi reappeared behind Heiji this time, causing him to jump. "I beat you fair and square, so just concede defeat already."

Conan stared down at the ground, unwilling to look back up into Shinichi's eyes.

After recovering, Heiji waved Shinichi off. "Ya had an unfair advantage, and ya knew it." he motioned down at Conan. "Ya never told me just how smart yer little cousin was. I think he's da one dat did most of da work out dere."

Shinichi chuckled, walking over and ruffling Conan's hair. Conan flinched under his touch. "He's a real child prodigy. Suppose it has something to do with all the case's he has been on with old man Kogoro. Honestly, he's probably just as smart as I was at his age."

Heiji shook his head. "Whateva ya say, Kudo. Hey, didn't I hear you mention something about ice cream?"

Shinichi paused. "Oh yeah. I guess I did. There's this really great place nearby that serves the best chocolate parfaits…they also have lemon bars that are simply to _die_ for. Err no pun intended, really." Shinichi grinned widely. Conan could see Shinichi's mouth practically watering.

Heiji shook his head "Well den, what are we waitin' fer? Let's go!" He grinned.

So the trio left the crime scene behind and began to walk away. All the while, Conan couldn't help the feeling in the back of his mind they were forgetting something...wait hadn't someone been with them earlier?

Suddenly something clicked in his mind. "Haibara!" he said abruptly, surprising both Heiji and Shinichi and stopping them in their tracks.

Shinichi paused for a moment before reacting. "What about...oh...OH!" Shinichi face palmed. "I completely forgot. We left her at the cafe with Sasaki!" he shook his head.

Conan looked up in alarm. "You left Haibara alone at the Cafe with a stranger!?" he declared incredulously.

Shinichi practically glared down at him. "It's not like I had much choice. You're the one that ran away, remember?" he put his hands on his hips, standing his ground.

"That's not the point! Don't you understand how much danger she could be in?" he returned Shinichi's gaze, ignoring his own guilt for the moment only accented by the fact he was staring at the mirror image of himself.

Conan and Shinichi's anger and frustration were only broken by the sound of a camera shutter going off. They both turned to see Heiji whistling, his phone hidden behind his back. "If yer done arguin', dont cha think now's a good time ta go find the little nee-chan?"

Shinichi and Conan both glanced at one another then back at Heiji. Well, he was right… Shinichi sighed. "I guess you're right. Come on Conan-kun, let's get going. I'm sure she's just fine. Sasaki is probably watching her. I'd stake my reputation as a detective on it." he smiled down at Conan.

Conan nodded lightly. "Alright." Something just then struck him as odd though… "Nee, Heiji-san…" he turned to Heiji, who had been messing around a bit with his phone. "You called Haibara the 'Little Nee-chan' how'd you know she was a child?"

Heiji paused from what he was doing, glancing up at Conan. Conan noticed a bit of sweat forming at the edge of his neck though it was very subtle. Seemed Conan had managed to catch him off guard. "Is there something you're not telling us?" Conan looked up Heiji suspiciously.

Before he could answer, however, Shinichi cut in. "Conan-kun you should know nothing escapes a good detective's eye. He was in the cafe with us earlier, didn't you notice?" he glanced briefly at Heiji while keeping his focus on Conan's eyes. Something told Conan that he was merely diverting his attention, but there were no other indications Shinichi was lying here. Come to think of it, now there had been someone in the cafe earlier who was wearing clothing very similar to Heiji's. It was hard to miss due to the fact there were very few customers in the restaurant. Conan shook his head. He was obviously overthinking things again.

"Alright, now that the deduction shows over with, let's go catch up with Haibara-chan. Knowing her she's probably driving Sasaki crazy." Shinichi chuckled as the three of them went back in the direction of the cafe.

Conan shook his head. Suddenly, he felt as if he were being watched. He glanced around anxiously. What was this feeling all of the sudden?

Shinichi stopped in his tracks, seeing Conan suddenly looking very pale. Shinichi took a hold of Conan's hand. "Come on, let's get going. We don't want to leave your girlfriend waiting." Shinichi grinned down at Conan.

Heiji was also grinning at him, his hand on the phone in his back pocket. Conan quickly pulled his hand out of Shinichi's grasp. "Barou. She's not my girlfriend." He glared lightly at the two teenagers. "And I can walk on my own just fine, thank you." he began to walk away, though the strange sense of foreboding lingered with him. Something was definitely off here.

It didn't take long to find out what that feeling was about, as the minute they arrived at the Cafe they found a rather shocking scene. The cafe was empty save for the owner, Sasaki, who was laying against the side of one of the tables, unconscious, with a bloodied forehead.

Three pairs of eyes widened instantaneously as they nodded at each other and ran over to check on Sasaki. Thankfully he was still breathing, though it looked like he had some sort of head wound. Conan noticed that Shinichi had briefly disappeared and then reappeared with a wet kitchen towel in hand.

Heiji had begun examining the area, as if looking for clues as to who had done this. He also had his cell phone out, and was clearly in the process of calling the police once more. Conan himself was still in a bit of a state of shock. Just how bad was his luck today? By the looks of things, they were dealing with another murder...though, this one was a failed attempt at least.

Shinichi held the wet cloth against Sasaki's forehead, carefully applying pressure in practiced first aid. Under any other circumstance, Conan might have been impressed by his quick reaction, but right now that was hardly the priority. He could see Sasaki slowly stirring. "Sasaki-san! Sasaki-san, can you hear me?"

Sasaki stirred further, finally opening his eyes. "Co...Conan-kun? Is that you?" his eyes were glazed over with moisture, clearly a bit out of focus. Suddenly he jolted up "Haibara-chan!" he glanced around anxiously, causing Shinichi to flinch, even as he continued to hold the towel against Sasaki's forehead.

Conan looked down at Sasaki, concern welling over in his eyes he was unsure what to say. One thing he knew for sure from past experience, was he needed to make sure Sasaki stayed calm. He needed to make sure to stave off any of his own panic at the current situation in order to get a clear idea of what exactly had transpired here. He turned towards Shinichi, who nodded in return. Any words would sound far more reassuring coming from a near adult as opposed to a child.

Shinichi cleared his throat as he handed off the towel to Conan, leaning down next to Sasaki and looking him directly in the eye. There was something strangely reassuring in Shinichi's presence. He exuded a calm aura a practiced blank expression pasted on his face. "Sasaki-san, I know this is difficult, but I need you to remain calm. We will find her, but first things first we need to know what happened here." Shinichi motioned at the empty room. Conan noticed that Heiji had left the room, probably to go speak with someone outside.

Conan turned back his attention to Sasaki and the towel in his hand. Surprisingly, it seemed that the wound itself had stopped bleeding, though the towel itself was quite soaked through. He took note of Sasaki's eyes. They still looked rather moist though they were more focused than before. "I'm not sure… it all happened rather quickly I…" Conan had to readjust his position, as suddenly Sasaki stared down at the ground, his voice lowering practically to a whisper. "There were these two people dressed in dark suits and…"

Conan jumped in a start. No… This was impossible. D***, how could he be so careless? So it was _them…_ Conan cursed wildly under his breath, trying his best to keep control of his emotions. Surprisingly, it was Shinichi who spoke up next. "Sasaki-san, I know it's hard but I need you to concentrate. Tell us, do you happen to know which direction these people were headed?"

Sasaki shook his head. "As I said, it all happened rather fast. There was a struggle, and I think the sound of the cop cars nearby spooked them. They left in a rather big hurry...the one knocked me out so I couldn't follow them. The last I saw of them they were headed in that direction." Sasaki pointed out the back door.

Suddenly detective Sato burst through the front door, panting heavily. "Kudo-kun! Is everything alright?" She glanced between the three figures in the room, catching sight of Sasaki on the floor and the bloody towel in Conan's hands.

"Sato-san! It's good you're here! I need to ask you a favor. Could you please look after Conan for me?" Conan glanced up at him, his eyes wide. Was he being serious? It sounded like he was going to…

Sato gazed curiously at him. "Umm, yeah, I guess. Why, what's going on?" she seemed genuinely confused.

Shinichi grinned. "Nothing I can't handle. Just please watch the kid for me, okay? He's already gotten into more than enough trouble today." He glanced down at Conan, a serious look on his face. "And you stay with Detective Sato, you got that? I've already lost one of you today, and if I want to have any chance of getting you both back safe, I need you to stay here."

Conan shrunk a bit under Shinichi's hard gaze. He could tell Shinichi meant well, but he had to wonder if he knew just what he was up against. If his suspicions were correct, then this was no random kidnapping. That meant danger, and he was not about to let his older self make the same mistake he did. He needed to be there. Still… "Alright Shinichi-nii, I promise." he grinned his best child-like grin up at his older counterpart. He just needed to trick him into thinking he wasn't following him, and then he could follow his lead. It was for _his_ own good after all.

Shinichi didn't seem quite convinced, but he smiled down at Conan ruffling his hair. "Alright. I leave him with you, Sato-san. I've got a lead to follow!" With that, he took off running out the back door. Conan wasn't sure how he was going to follow the kidnapper's trail, but if it were anything like earlier, he knew his deductive prowess would be more than enough. On that note… "Sato-san, I need to go to the bathroom."

Detective Sato glanced down at him from her position next to the unconscious Sasaki. Some time during the course of their short conversation, he had passed out again, though it was probably exhaustion. It was understandable, given the circumstances. "Alright. I'll wait for you right here, okay?" she smiled lightly at him.

Conan nodded. "Hai." he said, and he quickly made a scramble for the boys bathroom. As luck would have it, there was a window just his size there and the sink was just close enough for him to climb up. Gymnastics had never been his speciality, but he had some experience with climbing and he was able to shimmy himself up to the window and get it open. Hopping out into the alley just behind the cafe he took off silently in the direction he was pretty sure Shinichi was headed.

Little did he know just what he was headed into.

...

 _ **~Thus ends another chapter. Again originally I had plans for this to be a ONE-SHOT! This chapter went through several rewrite before I ended up with this. Next chapter will hold the official "conclusion" to this tale followed by a slight omake chapter 4 taking place from some other characters perspectives.**_

 _ **If you enjoyed please leave a review! I seriously love getting feedback and it keeps me motivated to continue writing. Thanks so much for reading! See you next chapter!~**_


	3. Conclusion

~ _ **Hello everybody and welcome to There is Only One Lie chapter 3. I apologize it took this long to conclude this story, but I've rather busy with real life work. Im currently working full time and thus don't have a lot of extra time to work on my hobbies. Still I enjoy writing these tales in my off time so I hope that you will all enjoy what Ive got for you :D**_

 _ **Special thanks to my reviewers from last chapter. Rockster honestly I apologize for any confusion most questions will be answered this chapter. Unfortunately Heiji only really makes a cameo in this chapter so you might have to wait a bit for his explanation for being part of this.**_

 _ **Thanks to my lovely beta DisconsolateMist for all her editing assistance! I couldn't do this without you!**_

 _ **Okay standard disclaimers as always: I do not own these characters. Well I kind of own Sasaki, but not really...you'll see ;)**_

 _ **All that said...enjoy!~**_

Conan glanced around trying his best to get his bearings. Having a near photographic memory allowed him some extra help in figuring out his location, but it didn't entirely let him know which way his strange doppelganger had gone. For that, he needed to think like a detective.

He paused as several people passed him by, giving him odd looks. He ignored them for the most part, trying to focus on the task at hand. Thankfully, he had inherited some of his mother's acting skills, as he was able to perfectly act the part of a lost child searching for his older brother. Several people had mentioned spotting someone of his description wandering about town. A few had offered him rides to the police station, but he just shook his head politely at them, rushing off in the direction he had last been given.

The problem was Tokyo was just too big, and he was just too small. Conan once again cursed at his miniature status. This was just ridiculous. He knew these streets like the back of his hand, and yet somehow his older self had managed to give him the slip. He needed to work with him to find Ai! It was very possible she was running out of time. His mind held a picture of a trembling Ai. She must be terrified at the very prospect of being kidnapped, and even worse tortured, and then killed.

Conan continued to curse under his breath, having reached yet another dead end. Why were his deductive skills failing him? He stood there, fists clenched, staring out into the city. He took a deep breath, sifting through every bit of logic he could for the current scenario. There was always the possibility that Shinichi had already managed to locate and save Ai. His older self had shown his own abilities earlier with that case, and he seemed pretty confident he knew just what to do in this situation.

Maybe...maybe he should just go home and trust that Shinichi knew what he was doing. After all what use could he possibly be in this situation? Conan frowned to himself as he stared down at his child sized hands. In what ever parallel world he had been pulled into, he was no better than any seven year old kid, advanced intellect or no.

Conan shook his head. No. He needed to stay positive. He had come too far to give up now. Even if he had to start over from square one, he would make sense of all this somehow. With a renewed determination, he began to go over the facts in his mind.

He and Shinichi had been gone for a couple of hours, working on that murder case. Yet when they had found Sasaki, he had not entirely bled out yet. In fact, the wound seemed quite fresh. Wait...the wound. There was something bothering him about that head wound.

It was hard to tell at the time, being so caught up in the moment, but there was something not adding up with Sasaki's explanation of what had happened. He had been rather nondescript with the details. Almost as if he was hiding something… could it be?

Conan took off at a sprint. Damn, if he was right about this than he had been following a false lead this entire time. No wonder he had managed to reach a dead end! He wondered briefly if his older self had reached a similar conclusion. Now was not the time to think about such things. He needed to get back.

Sprinting as fast as he could, he ran towards the cafe his heart beating heavily. He didn't have much time. He only hoped Detective Sato hadn't left in the intervening time. With Sasaki's clear acting skills, he could of lead her to believe he was just some average business owner. Conan knew better at this point.

He had seen it enough times. Criminals weren't all as stupid as many people made them out to be. Many were quite intelligent, to the point of which they could pull off the appearance of just your average citizen. It was the job of detectives like him to see past this facade and uncover the truth beneath the mask.

Conan cursed under his breath, as he breathed heavily, waiting at the crosswalk for the light to turn. He had been so blind. It had been the descriptions of the so called "criminals", and Shinichi's rapid fire questions that had distracted him. He hadn't even thought for a moment to consider that they had left a witness quite well in tact, even if on the edge of unconsciousness.

Of course, if he was wrong in his current deduction than that at least meant that Sasaki himself was still in danger. Though, he honestly doubted that at this point. No. He needed to find Sasaki quick before his only real lead disappeared. Ai's life, and perhaps even Shinichi's, were at stake at this point.

Panting heavily, Conan found himself in front of the cafe at last. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, as he found his watch had mysteriously gone missing. He would have questioned its location, had it not been for the other priorities currently on his mind.

Still gasping for air, he stretched up to try and open the door, only to find it locked. A string of curses left his mouth as he peered through the somewhat tinted windows, only now noticing the lack of lights on inside. He was too late…

He kicked a nearby rock on the ground in frustration. What now? He needed a lead and he needed one now. Maybe if he could get inside, that would be one thing, but he highly doubted that the back door would be any more open than the front.

Hmm… Conan paused putting his hand beneath his chin. Suddenly a thought struck him. He had left the window open earlier in the bathroom. It would be a bit of a struggle, but with me maneuvering he could probably make it back inside.

Rushing to the alley he had exited earlier, he found a few conveniently placed trash cans and boxes stacked up, and climbed back up to the window. It looked like it hadn't been touched since he was last here. Conan shook off the feeling in the back of his mind that this was breaking and entering deciding that he had far bigger priorities at the moment.

It wasn't the softest landing, but it was efficient enough. Conan managed to land butt-first on the tiled floor just below the window. Rubbing his rear end lightly, he got up and glanced around. The automatic light in the bathroom was on still so at least he could see his surroundings. Still, it left him with a bit of an eerie feeling, as he listened to the silence around him save for the small buzzing of the light above him.

He quickly shook his head, focusing on the path in front of him. Without his watch, he was virtually blind in the dark but there was still some natural light streaming in from outside. By the position of the sun, he figured it had to be around five o'clock, which made this silent cafe all the more suspicious.

What kind of cafe closes before dinner time? Granted, it was kind of in the middle of nowhere, and seemed rather low in business, but what would cause the owner to want to close up so early? It just made him all the more curious.

Finally, Conan found his way to the kitchen. This would obviously be his best lead. Slowly and cautiously, he made his way to the light switch, flicking it on. He was far enough in the back now no one would see the lights from outside, though he was a bit surprised no alarms had gone off yet.

Once again, he felt a pang of guilt well inside him over breaking into a place he obviously wasn't supposed to be, but he quickly tossed it aside. In retrospect he probably should have used a pay phone to try and contact someone first, but that was neither here nor there. Especially since he had also seemingly lost his voice changing bow tie at some point, much to his earlier annoyance during the case.

He searched the kitchen thoroughly, trying to find any clues as to who this mysterious "Sasaki" was, and where he may be now. Every moment that passed he grew a bit more nervous, as he found himself believing more and more that this cafe had merely been a front. Whomever Sasaki was, he was doing a very good job at hiding his true motives and identity.

Conan thought briefly back to a certain worker at Cafe Poirot. This situation was seeming just a bit too familiar for his liking. Could it really be Sasaki was one of _them_? Conan's eyes began to scan the papers with a stronger urgency than before. He was about to give up before he noticed a pad of paper next to the kitchen phone.

At first glance, he thought it was blank, but he noticed some telltale pencil scratch markings and that the top page, as well as the second, seemed to be ripped off. Had someone been here before him? That didn't matter right now. "Finally something!" He exclaimed to himself as he grabbed a pencil from the nearby drawer and began to trace over the leftover marks on the paper pad. It was an old trick, but it seemed to work effectively enough as slowly but surely, the writing left from the above sheet became partially visible.

Unfortunately, it seemed part of it was illegible due to missing strokes. Luckily for him, the strokes that were missing were easy enough to guess if he played around with it a bit. Still, try as he may, everything seemed to come out in some sort of strange code. "Figures." He thought to himself, still he was smiling outwardly. Another puzzle for him to crack. He was that much closer to catching up with the guy now.

Indeed it took him mere minutes before he manage to crack the code and find an address to a warehouse across town. Conan smiled proudly to himself before groaning. "Why is it always an abandoned warehouse? Can't criminals come up with anything more creative?" he shook his head. That wasn't important right now. He was still running out of time. The only question was "What do I do now?"

He needed to get to that abandoned warehouse, and fast. A life could be at stake here. Still, judging from the reactions of all the adults earlier that day, they weren't going to exactly jump at the idea of taking him to a dangerous place. Heck, Shinichi had abandoned him at the first sign of danger, even though he was rather lenient during the murder case.

Speaking of his older self… where had he disappeared to? For some reason earlier, despite supposedly being on Shinichi's tail throughout the city, he had still managed to lose track of him. He also couldn't help but wonder whether Shinichi had realized he was on a wild goose chase or not.

If he had managed to reach some of the same conclusions he had about Sasaki and the criminals who had taken Ai… He turned his eyes towards the kitchen floor. There were subtle mud tracks he had failed to notice earlier coming from the back door. The shoe size looked to be the same as a teenage male's. Not to mention he would recognize that signature shoe print anywhere. Those were his favorite brand.

Conan glanced at the pad of paper. There had been two sheets ripped off. Could it really be? If that were the case, it was very possible he was already on the trail of Sasaki and the others. He needed to catch up with him before he did something that could get him, and possibly, Ai into serious trouble!

Conan reached into his pocket searching for his phone, only to find it empty. He cursed to himself. It was possible that he had never been entrusted with a phone in this world, and how strange was it that now he was actually beginning to believe in this alternate reality?

After all he had been through, things were starting to slowly meld into a new reality for him and not one he particularly cared for. The very idea of it disturbed him, but all evidence lead to the conclusion that Shinichi was every bit the detective he was, and was at this moment on the trail of some rather dangerous and tricky criminal individuals.

If there was one thing that Shinichi lacked though, it was experience with these types of criminals. He had apparently not had the benefit of running into the Black Organization and being shrunk to the size of a child, and was therefore still pretty ignorant of the amount of danger he was in.

Conan found himself lost in thought. The motives of Sasaki and these other individuals were still unclear. As far as he knew, in this world, Haibara was just a regular girl. Thus, this was just a regular case of kidnapping.

He continued mulling through his thoughts, failing to notice a dark figure approach him from behind. For the second time that day, he found himself being pulled up in powerful arms. Caught by surprise, he tried his best to struggle against the grip, kicking his captor hard in the chest.

His assailant flinched under the kick and lost his grip, dropping him to

the floor. Conan quickly scrambled to the other side of the room, hiding behind the large refrigerator. He listened as the footsteps approached him, slightly panicking as he wondered what he should do.

He looked down as his naked wrist in a panic. Why didn't he have his stun gun wrist watch with him? Of course, once again in this alternate world, he wouldn't truly have need for such a device, though by the sounds of things earlier, he stumbled on things here as much as he did in his universe. It just didn't make any sense.

Then again nothing that had happened today made any sense. Conan held his head in irritation. He could feel a strong headache returning as he tried to wrap his mind around the reality he was in right now. He needed to think this through logically, but every time he tried he ended up right where he began.

A loud crash sent him back to reality as the stranger from earlier cursed loudly in a gruff voice. "Come on out little detective. I promise not to hurt you…" Conan shuddered a bit, practically feeling the predatory grin that was on the man's face at the moment. It took him a second to register that the voice was that of Sasaki-san. So he was right… crap, he was cornered!

He listened as Sasaki moved closer to his corner of the room, trying his best to hunker down deeper into the shadows. He needed to think fast. Without any means of protecting himself, there was little he could do, other than try and sneak past him to escape. It would be no different than the numerous other scenarios he had gotten himself into before, although he needed to time it just right or risk being caught within the criminals clutches with no means of escape.

"You've been taught well by that cousin of yours, Edogawa-kun. Pity he wasn't smart enough to see through me earlier. It proved to be rather deadly mistake." Conan felt his breath catch at Sasaki's words. Just what was he implying? Don't tell him that… Conan froze. No, that was impossible. There was no way that Shinichi was...

"Found you!" Conan found himself shrieking like a child as he was suddenly grabbed with powerful hands and pulled from his hiding place.

Conan struggled in his grip. "Let me go!" he screamed in vain. There was a feeling of cloth being pressed against his face as the strong smell of chloroform invaded his nose. He tried his best to fight it, but eventually succumbed to the numbness.

"Sleep tight, little detective." were the last words he heard before he blacked out.

….

Conan awoke for the second time that day to the sound of Haibara's voice. His head was spinning as he slowly registered her calling his name.

"Conan-kun! Conan-kun, snap out of it!" His eyes adjusted themselves to the sudden brightness around him as he slowly took in his surroundings. His entire body felt numb still, though he had some feeling in his feet and arms that indicated he was not free to move at the moment.

He blinked a couple of times trying to clear his vision as he tried to focus on the source of the earlier voice. "Haibara, is that you?" he continued to blink, realizing that light from earlier had just been his eyes adjusting to the sudden change in environment. Seemed wherever he was it was actually rather dimly lit.

"Of course it's me…" Haibara's voice shook a bit as she spoke. "I was really worried about you, Conan-kun...thank goodness you're not hurt." Conan stared in the general direction Haibara's voice was coming from. He could just barely make out her form out on the other side of whatever room he was in. She was shaking terribly.

Conan felt himself involuntarily shiver. For just a moment, he was hoping that the past hours had all been just a dream. So much for that. His head spun as he mulled over all that had happened, and he did his best to reassess the current situation. From what he could make of his surroundings, it seemed he had been brought to the very warehouse that Haibara had been taken to earlier. Well, that saved him the time of getting here at least. Only one problem though, he was now stuck in the same boat.

Right. Well this was certainly a fine mess. At the moment there seemed to be no signs of their kidnapper, so perhaps he could use this opportunity to find a way out of here. Maybe Haibara had more information, she had been here longer than him after all. First things first, "Haibara, do you know where we are?"

He heard a small whimper escape Haibara's lips as she shook her head at him. "I'm not sure...Sasaki-san said this is a secret place. He...he said it was his hiding spot." Haibara whimpered a bit more, causing Conan to flinch. He could also feel the rage inside him grow as he thought about the cafe owner's actions. He acted as if this was some sort of sick game of hide and seek. Still as is Conan couldn't fully let his emotions show to the terrified Haibara, so he kept silent for a moment, carefully thinking over his next words.

"Haibara, now I need you to listen carefully here, okay?" He peered quietly at Haibara's still shaking figure. "Has there been anyone else here besides Sasaki-san? Anyone at all?" He tried to convey a tone of both comfort and concern from across the room, though his mind was reeling at the moment. He needed to know the facts here and that included just who all was involved.

Haibara shook her head again. "No one...Sasaki-san said that he was alone, though he said he was expecting 'that detective kid' to show up looking for me...I think he was talking about Shinichi-nii." Haibara's voice suddenly brightened, "Do you think Shinichi-nii will come looking for us?" Conan flinched again at this.

It was true he had found evidence earlier to suggest that Shinichi would be coming to look for Haibara here, but if that were the case shouldn't he be here already? Is that why Sasaki had returned to the cafe, to look and see if Shinichi had returned? That seemed pretty foolish on his part. Then again that could very well mean...Shinichi was his original target?

Conan felt himself panicking internally. It wouldn't be the first time a criminal had targeted himself. If he was correct in his deduction, than something had set Sasaki off and he had been planning to kill Shinichi all along. He was only using Ai as bait to lure him into a trap!

Conan's mind began moving at an increased rate. Back at the restaurant, he could have very easily been planning to poison all three of their food. Still, he hadn't factored on there being a murder nearby and he had to improvise. Thus, he had taken Ai as a would-be hostage and left evidence that would lead Shinichi right here.

Something had gone wrong in his plan once more, though, and for some reason Shinichi had never shown , instead of finding Shinichi back at the cafe, he had discovered his younger cousin instead. Thinking it the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone, he had decided to take Conan hostage as well, further provoking Shinichi and thus forcing his hand.

Conan continued to shiver as he thought of what the final results of such a plan would entail. He and Ai were innocents in this game, but would no doubt be considered threats in the end. Especially after he himself had so stupidly walked right into this trap. The only thing keeping them alive right now was their childish innocence and Shinichi's lack of presence. Something that would most likely be remedied soon if Conan knew his older self well enough.

Time was running low and he was out of options. No doubt Sasaki was nearby, lying in wait like a wolf ready to pounce given the chance. Meanwhile Conan had no way of knowing where Shinichi was at this moment. Still, he knew he needed to get out of here and fast.

For a moment, a pang of guilt fell over him as he thought back to where he had last left Shinichi. Perhaps if he had just stayed with Detective Sato, then he wouldn't be stuck here right now. He had to wonder what Sato had thought when she discovered Conan missing as well. Sasaki-san was a brilliant liar, and Conan was only chastising himself now for not noticing it earlier. He most likely assured her that he was a "friend of Shinichi's" and "could watch out for the boy." Conan cursed under his breath at the thought. How could he have been so stupid?

Haibara whimpered a bit again, shaking him his thoughts. Now was not the time to think about the past. He needed to focus on the present. On finding a way out of here before it was too late. He glanced around, only now taking note of how empty the strange warehouse was.

There was evidence that at one point in time, this place had been used as a storage location for dry goods and food materials. It made sense. Most likely Sasaki had stored additional restaurant materials here between orders. Much the same as the cafe, it made for a pretty good front. No one would suspect it of being anything out of the ordinary.

Still, that meant that there would most likely be only a couple of methods of entry. The large door where orders would be taken and delivered was most likely sealed tight. There were several windows, but they were high out of reach. The smaller doors in the front and back were the easiest methods of getting in or out, but most likely they were locked. Not that it mattered. His hands were quite literally tied at the moment.

Conan cursed to himself once more. Suddenly he noticed the door handle turning on the door. Could it be? That most likely meant one of two things: One, Sasaki had returned and decided to finish the job he started regardless of Shinichi's presence or not. Two, Shinichi had somehow found his way to the warehouse finally and was now attempting to save them.

Shinichi waited with bated breath. Neither option was especially good at this point. If Shinichi had made it this far that would be good, but he was walking straight into a trap. Conan felt completely powerless as he stared silently at the door. This was it. Conan closed his eyes dreading the next few moments.

"Conan! Ai-chan! Thank goodness you're alright!" A distinctly feminine voice rang out. Conan opened his eyes and they widened at the figure standing before him, flashlight and keys in hand.

"S-Sato-keiji!" he exclaimed in surprise as he watched her run over to him and untie his bonds. "What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to shake his surprise at her sudden appearance. Honestly, she was the last person he expected to be walking through that door.

"Kudo-kun called and told me what was going on. I honestly should be asking you the same question. What were you thinking, running away like that?" she looked at him with a serious gaze.

Conan just gazed up at her, unable to speak. His brain was still trying to process what was going on. Finally things clicked in his mind as she finished untying the last knot. "Sato-keiji, where's Shinichi-nii?" he looked up at her with nervous eyes.

She stared back at him silently before answering in a steady voice. "That's none of your concern right now. Kudo-kun may be a bit irresponsible… but he can take care of himself. Which is more than I can say for you. You need to learn to listen to your elders, Conan-kun." Sato held her gaze tightly on him, looking him over with a judging look.

Conan felt himself shrink a bit under her gaze before quickly recovering. "But Shinichi-nii is in danger! The bad man that kidnapped us wants to hurt him! I heard him say it myself!" Okay, so he was lying about that last bit, but Sato didn't need to know that. What mattered was he was telling the truth about Sasaki's intentions. It was clear that he intended Shinichi harm in some form and if he didn't get to him soon, then it might be too late.

Sato got up and turned her back to him to go help Ai. Conan quickly took this as his chance and, stumbling on his now freed feet, he made a sprint for the open door. Shinichi couldn't be far. He had to find him. He needed to get there before Sasaki did. He wasn't going to lose him. It would certainly be the cruelest irony the world had ever given him.

He heard voices coming from nearby and recognized them almost instantly. He was too late! He quickly ran forward. "SHINICHI!" he called, out feeling strange calling out his own name. Both figures turned towards him in surprise. Both had difficult-to-read expressions. Conan stared at them. Truth be told, he hadn't thought through what exactly he was planning on doing after confronting Shinichi.

Shinichi was the first to recover. "What are you doing here, kid? I told you to stay put with Sato!" there was a serious look in his eyes, somewhere between fear and something else resembling relief.

Conan stared back at him, his eyes resolute as he stepped in between him and Sasaki. "But Shinichi-nii, don't you know it's bad to go up against people all alone?" he glanced briefly at Sasaki, who for some reason seemed to be frozen in place.

Shinichi shook his head, lowering his eyes. "Stay out of this, Conan...this doesn't concern you." he attempted to step between him and Sasaki once more, but Conan blocked him.

"It does concern me! I don't want you getting hurt Shinichi!" Conan still couldn't believe the words coming out of his own mouth. This whole situation was d*** confusing.

Shinichi looked down at Conan with a blank expression, seemingly unable to reply. Before he could say anything, however, there was a deep throated laugh coming from nearby. "You should be more worried about yourself, little detective." Conan turned slowly to see that Sasaki had turned the gun towards him. His eyes widened as he saw Sasaki grin.

"Leave him out of this Sasaki-san! This is between me and you!" Shinichi stated as he stood defensively over Conan, trying to push him backwards behind him.

Sasaki scoffed. "That may have been true before Kudo, but you should have thought of that before abandoning him back at the restaurant. Looks like detective work runs in the family. Now he will pay the ultimate price for YOUR mistake!"

Several things happened at once as Conan watched in horror as Sasaki pulled the trigger on the gun. Somehow, Shinichi managed to pick him up and throw him to the side and, in that small millisecond, there was a cry of pain as Shinichi was shot directly in the lower abdomen. He hit the ground with a thump as Conan stared on in horror at the sight before him.

Once again Sasaki scoffed, the grin on his face ever increasing. "Tch. Figures. Ah well, I was going to kill you both anyway. Doesnt really matter in what order I do it." He turned to face Conan who was still in shock. He moved to point the gun once more, only for Shinichi to once again jump in front of him. A couple more shots rang out and both Sasaki and Shinichi fell to the ground in a pool of red.

Conan glanced upwards to find Sato standing behind with a gun in her hand. His brain slowly processed what had just happened and as Sato came up beside him. She took a glance over the two people lying on the ground and made a movement to turn each of them over and check their pulses.

Sasaki was motionless, his eyes closed as if in sleep. Shinichi, on the other hand, barely managed a cough. He was alive...barely. Conan stared down at him, unable to move. What could he do? Sato leaned down next to him, and the two of them shared a whispered conversation that Conan couldn't quite hear his ears still ringing.

Sato nodded lightly at Shinichi, holding him up in arms as if cradling him. She motioned for Conan to come over. It took him a minute to pick up that Shinichi wanted to talk to him.

Conan nodded weakly. This was a nightmare. An absolute nightmare. Conan couldn't believe he was standing here staring at his own, or rather, "Shinichi's" bleeding form. What had he done to deserve this? "Conan...take care of Ran and the rest of them. It's all up to you now." Conan stared in horror as he listened to the words coming from Shinichi's mouth. How had it come to this point?

He thought back on the events that had lead up to this. It was all so surreal, almost like a horrible practical joke gone wrong.

Suddenly, he noticed a strange look cross Shinichi's face. He was...smiling? He was bleeding to death, and yet, for some strange reason, he was smiling. As Conan glanced up at Sato, he noticed a similar look upon her face. On a whim, he turned to look at the face of Sasaki, only to see a similar grin light up his face as well, as he suddenly sat up, opening his eyes and grinning down at him.

Conan backed up. Just what the heck was going on here. Sato turned to Sasaki and chuckled "Well do you think we should tell him?"

Just then Conan realized he had spoken that lost thought aloud. Also, that was most definitely NOT Sato's voice coming from her mouth.

"I think he's probably suffered enough." Replied Shinichi, who sat up, looking none the worse for wear despite the red still dripping from his chest.

Conan stared on, half in confusion half in horror. This was not happening right now…

Suddenly, three voices rang out in unison. "APRIL FOOLS SHINICHI!"

Conan froze, his mouth hanging in abject shock. Words failed him as his brain ceased all normal thought functions. He just stood there unable to move or do anything. He felt like passing out for the third time that day, but managed to hold on simply out of pure stubbornness.

He flinched ever so slightly as a flash went off in front his face. It was only then that he noticed the small figure behind the three in front of him, that was holding a camera "You were right, Kudo-san. His reaction was rather priceless." Conan glanced at Ai and then at the person she was addressing. Sasaki-san. Of course. Only one person could pull off a stunt like this.

"Dad?!" Conan said in a tone that spoke of utter betrayal. He stared at the man, who took the camera from Ai, snapping another quick photo.

 _Sasaki_ chuckled, and removed a full facial mask and the ugly neck tie that was stained with what Conan now realized was rather convincing fake blood. "Hello, Shinichi." his voice resumed its normal timbre, though it carried a wide bit of mirth. Clearly he was enjoying this far too much.

Conan then turned to address the other two figures "If you're you, than that means…" he turned to _Sato_ "You are…"

Yusaku chuckled. "Actually, that isn't your mother. She is with Heiji and Doctor Agasa back at the car. Though, you are right in assuming she's _Shinichi_ ' _s_ mother." Conan's brain slowly took in the meaning of that statement, as he took in the two before him who were arguing animatedly with each other over the heavy use of fake blood, and quality of acting skills. _Sato_ had returned to what seemed to be her regular voice while _Shinichi_ still maintained a tone similar to himself.

Conan stared at them, trying his best to remember where he had heard _Sato's_ voice before. It was a distant memory, but he still could swear he had met this woman before. The boy on the other hand…

"It's freaky how much he looks and sounds like you, isn't it?" Conan jumped as Ai came up beside him, smirking. "I was actually rather surprised your parents knew such a person. Well, it worked out in the end." Ai chuckled darkly.

Conan just continued to stare at her, still at a loss for words. Though, that still left him with the question. "Who are you?" he addressed _Shinichi_ who blinked at him a couple of times before grinning an all-too familiar grin.

Suddenly, there was a small poof of smoke and Conan found himself staring into a flower. "Kuroba Kaito. Magician extraordinaire! At your service." he watched as the boy, Kaito, gave him a wink. He stared senselessly at the flower, the cogs in his brain slowly turning as he processed this new information.

"Kaito…" Conan mulled over the boy's name in his mind before his eyes widened. He turned to his father, who was standing there with an all-knowing grin on his face. "Wait as in...KID? You know Kaitou KID?!"

Yusaku chuckled, and the woman next to him joined in as well. "Well of course. Who do think it was who gave KID his name in the first place?" Yusaku eyes sparkled with a great deal of merriment. Once again, he was clearly enjoying this far too much.

Conan just stood there staring at him before he turned to the woman next to him. "Then you're…" Conan facepalmed. Of course. Now the excessive amount of blood and horror tropes made sense. Still, this information was barely registering in his mind. As he tried to put together the fact that his father was acquainted with not one, but two phantom thieves. And now they were both standing right here in front of him, acting as if they were old friends. Was this part of the joke?

He heard a sigh from the side and turned to see Kaito rolling his eyes. "Honestly, I told you I didn't want to do this. I'm pretty sure we have fried little Tantei-kun's brain at this point. Also, I'd really like to get somewhere that I can change out of these bloody clothes. Think we can go back to your house now?" he spoke so casually to Yusaku. It was kind of creeping him out, especially when he was still wearing **his** face.

"Very well, Kaito-kun. Chikage, you have your own car correct?" Yusaku continued to converse as if nothing had just happened. Conan took note of how casually he threw out the first names of the thief and ex thief and...he held his head trying to steady himself. Honestly, at this point he really needed to lay down before he hurt himself. Home sounded good right about now. He slowly followed behind the others back to where Agasa's beetle and an exotic looking, foreign white car were parked.

He had ended up riding in the same car as Kaito and his mother Chikage, whom he quickly discovered was actually a pretty tame driver in comparison to his own mother. Though, she seemed to be just as talkative. She blabbered on practically the whole ride about how long it had been she had been able to enjoy herself like that. She spoke of how she had run into Yusaku and Yukiko in Vegas, and that is where this whole scheme had been concocted. She went on and on about how she was so glad to catch up with his parents, and to speak of their respective son's crazy double lives.

Kaito had been surprisingly silent the whole ride, though Conan noticed him fidgeting with a deck of cards that were stored in the front seat. Something told him he wasn't the only one affected by the events of the day. The magician wore a blank expression, but it was clear that he was distracted by something.

It still hadn't quite hit Conan yet that one of the major repercussions of this prank had been the ultimate reveal of KID's civilian persona. He was still trying to get over the fact that his father knew it all along. Heck, he probably had planned that into his plan, hence the KID's obvious discomfort. He almost felt bad for him in a way. Almost.

Finally they arrived back at the Kudo residence. Needless to say, Conan was feeling pretty overwhelmed at this point. Despite it all, he really just wanted to go collapse on his bed...smaller body or no...and forget this entire day. Unfortunately, he first needed to have a discussion with some of the other players in this case, including one Heiji Hattori, who was standing there grinning wildly at the doorway.

The next hour was spent recapping the events of the day. Conan's face burned a deep red for nearly the whole discussion as he listened, embarrassed, to the story of how this all came together. Needless to say, there were several key players involved in this prank and they all seemed to have varying things to say about their parts. Conan listened semi-coherently as the tale was once more recapped, filling in the missing pieces along the way…

 _ **~Thanks for reading! This is the "unofficial conclusion" of TiOOL. Though fret not dear readers for there will be a special "Omake" chapter following this one in order to get a bit more insight into the events outside of Shinichis perspective in this story. I don't know when it will be up, but probably soonish as I have a pretty good idea where I am going with it.**_

 _ **This writer loves reviews so let me know what you think :D Leave me a comment positive/negative and Ill give you feedback as bet I can!~**_


	4. Omake 1 Biting the Silver Bullet

_**Authors note: Hello everybody and welcome to Part 1 of TiOOL Omakes. Yes "Part 1" because apparently these minisodes decided to be as long as their chapter counterparts. Granted they are whole new sections consisting of the characters "missing" scenes. You all asked for humor and I live to deliver.**_

 _ **As always thanks to my lovely beta DisconsolateMist for helping get most of the editing work done here. The only section left unedited was "All's Fair in Love and Pranks" so please forgive any editing errors there. I am horrible at catching my own mistakes.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: These characters and their properties belong to Gosho Aoyama. Please support his official works!**_

 _ **All that said: Enjoy part 1 of 2 or 3 of TiOOL: Omakes!**_

... _ **Introduction: Biting the Silver Bullet**_... 

After everyone had met back up at the Kudo residence, and Yusaku and Kaito had showered and changed out of their now-bloodied clothes, the large group retired to the Kudo mansion sitting room. Here, there were varied degrees of murmured discussions happening over the events of the day.

Conan slumped back into the comfortable confines of the plush easy chair in the center of the room. His small body practically shrunk into the chair's large cushions, but at this point he really didn't mind all that much. No. In truth, he would rather be swallowed up by the chair, as he absently listened to the whispered conversations about him. He was feeling pretty foolish right about now, not to mention exhausted. To say that it had been a long day would be just about the understatement of the century.

He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on calming his still frayed nerves continuing to sink back into the chair, only to suddenly feel a presence next to him. He opened one eye to stare at the stranger invading his personal bubble only to recoil back as he was met with his own…no Kaito's face.

Kaito flinched briefly at Conan's reaction, only to quickly recover. It was almost creepy how quickly he did. He certainly wasn't your average person. "Sorry to startle you Tantei-kun…Honestly, I just wanted to check and see if you were doing alright." Kaito wore a somewhat worried look on his face. It was nearly identical to the one he had worn earlier while acting as Shinichi.

Conan paused uncertain what to make of Kaito's words. It still hadn't quite sunk in yet that the person standing right here in front of him was the same thief he had run into on several occasions now. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his father not only knew this fact, but was apparently also completely okay with it.

Conan stared dumbly back at him. What a weird situation this entire thing was. It took him a moment to register Kaito's words. Wait was KID worrying about him? Why? True he had been pretty embarrassed by the whole situation, but he had grown pretty used to his parents crazy antics. Not to mention with all the murder cases he solved on a daily basis, he had become rather desensitized to it all at some point. Slowly his mind registered that Kaito was just sitting there staring, clearly waiting for an answer to his question. He sighed. It was looking more and more like he was not going to be given the chance to let the matter rest.

Conan chuckles a little darkly "Honestly? I'm fine. Though…I have to say I am kind of curious how you all became involved in this." Conan addressed the whole room that had suddenly grown surprisingly silent. Seemed they were all wary of his attitude now.

"That would be my doing." Yusaku's deep voice rang out from the back of the room. "Though, I suppose you've already deduced as much." He wore a similar grin to the one Conan was used to seeing on KID, though slightly darker than the magician's, more akin to the Night Baron. 

Conan rolled his his eyes at his father as he slumped back into his chair. "From what Chikage-san said earlier, I gathered that the three of you…" he motioned at his mother and Chikage who were sitting nearby, smiling to themselves, "met in Vegas roughly two weeks or so ago and started talking about us…" he motioned at himself and Kaito. "Then you concocted this whole scheme. Does that sound about right?" his voice conveyed how very tired he was at this whole situation. Really, what did he do to deserve crazy parents like his?

Yusaku chuckled. "Correct as usual, Shinichi. Though you're missing a few details in your deduction." he smiled a smug grin at him.

Conan raised an eyebrow but shook his head. "Whatever. I'm honestly too tired to care right now." he sighed. It was obvious there was more to the story. He might as well sit and listen to it.

"You're no fun, Shin-chan." Yukiko's voice piped in. "Don't you want to know how we all met up with one another?"

Conan turned to his mother, giving her a bored look. "Quite frankly? No. Besides, doesn't the saying go 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?'" he could only hope that his father would pick up on his signals. Apparently not.

"You're right about that. Doesn't mean you don't deserve the full story, though." Yusaku grinned a knowing grin at his son. Apparently, he wasn't quite done torturing him yet. "Well, it all started as you stated. About three weeks ago…"

... _ **What Happens In Vegas**_...

Yusaku sighed inwardly to himself. So much for a "vacation." His publishers had finally given him some "time off" from his busy schedule in order that he might attend a convention in Las Vegas with other famous mystery novelists. He should have known that his publishers had ulterior motives for letting him be there.

As it turned out, the casino in which the convention was being held had advertised his and a few of the other authors coming. As such, he had been mobbed by several fans asking for his autograph as soon as he walked in the door. It had been so chaotic, security had to step in and a table was set up for him to do an unofficial "book signing." With the line practically stretching out the doors, Yusaku knew very well it was going to be a long time before he could get any relaxing done.

He glanced back to see that his wife, Yukiko, had gotten lost somewhere in the crowd. He knew she wouldn't tolerate being separated from him for long, and would probably eventually come looking for him...well, at least he hoped she would. Honestly, with the way the owners were moving the alcohol in the crowd, it was likely she would be lost for some time.

Yusaku sighed as he glanced over at the table's next to his. Some of his fellow authors had given him some rather dirty looks. He knew well that, despite his popularity, there were many who despised him for being such a high status foreign writer. He also knew that jealousy tends to do crazy things to people. Thus, for the most part, he avoided their gazes and kept to himself.

Thankfully he had been placed at a table next to an old friend of his whom he had met in one of his numerous runs of America, in a little town in Maine. She was as well known in the States, as he was in Japan, and shared a similar love for the criminal mind. He had heard rumors that she often assisted the police, much the same as he back in the day. He would have to remember to have a chat with her later after this whole debacle was over.

In the meantime Yusaku continued to sign the books in front of him, losing himself a bit in the monotony of it all. He didn't even glance up when a soft, somewhat nostalgic voice to him in slightly accented japanese _"Will you sign my book, sir? To your dearest fan."_ Yusaku paused a moment as he was signing. Something about the way she said that… suddenly, his head shot up as she switched to French. **"It's been a while. Yusaku Kudo."** He'd know that voice anywhere.

"Chikage-san!" He smiled lightly at her as he stood up, grabbing her hands. She moved in, kissing his cheeks in greeting. Yusaku ignored the mostly pointed looks from the people around him. After all, this must of looked strange to the American's around him. He would need to escape before the press started something. Yusaku motioned at the people around, him switching to Japanese. " _I'm glad to see you, but it's better we not talk here. You know how the press are."_ Actually, this was the perfect opportunity to escape, and he wasn't about to pass it up.

Chikage chortled at his blatant statement. It wasn't as if she couldn't understand the situation he was in. After all, Toichi had been rather world-famous. She quickly nodded and, grabbing his hand, using an old escape trick she had learned from her husband, provided a "distraction" for Yusaku to disappear.

Little did she know that someone in the audience had seen through her ruse, and was now following behind them.

Chikage lead Yusaku back to her hotel room where she quickly locked the door behind her. "There, now we can talk in private." Chikage said, smiling as she glanced at Yusaku, who was surprisingly out of breath. She chuckled a bit to herself as he fell backwards into a nearby chair. "Goodness, Yusaku. You used to be so good at chasing criminals. You couldn't even handle a little run?"

"I guess I'm a bit out of practice...just let me catch my breath." he stared at his old friend, shaking his head as he caught his breath. For a thief who was supposedly "retired", she certainly knew how to run. Then again, that wasn't all that surprising. The Kuroba's were a tricky bunch. He wondered what his wife would say if she knew the truth about them…

Suddenly, there was a rather loud knock on the door. Yusaku and Chikage both turned to face the door. It took Yusaku a few seconds to register who it could be. He went a bit pale. If that was who he thought it was they were probably in big trouble right about now.

Sure enough, seconds later, a loud female voice cried out in japanese. _"YUSAKU KUDO, YOU HAVE ABOUT FIVE SECONDS TO OPEN THIS DOOR BEFORE I FIND A WAY TO OPEN IT FOR YOU!"_ Yusaku would recognize the voice of his beloved wife anywhere. He shrunk back a bit as he thought back to the presence he had felt following them earlier. Oh...did she see...oh crap. Well, he better face this head on.

Trotting over to the door and peering through the peephole, he saw his wife's angry face glaring back at him. Yep. She definitely saw. Well better to face it and explain the situation. Slowly he unlocked the door just as Yukiko was making an effort to run backwards and ram the door. In her effort she ran forward knocking both herself and Yusaku to the ground in a heap.

Chikage was just sitting backwards on her bed watching the scene play out. It would almost be amusing, if not for the fact that Yukiko was obviously quite drunk at this point and angry at more than just Yusaku.

 _ **...**_

"So, wait, you're telling me mom ran into the room after finding you and Chikage-san together and nearly tried to kill you both, and that is how you guys met?" Conan stared at his father in disbelief. This story was absolutely ridiculous. It sounded like something straight out of one of his father's novels.

Yusaku chuckled a bit, as Yukiko blushed. "That's pretty much how it happened, yes."

Needless to say, Conan wasn't the only one in the room whose face showed surprise, though Kaito's was a bit more hidden behind his wide grin. Heiji was clearly having a hard time holding in his laughter as well. Agasa also had a bit of a taint to his cheeks, though his long acquaintance with the Kudo's prevented him from reacting too much.

"I can't believe you two…" Conan said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oi come on Kudo, it's not so bad." Heiji put in. "My folk's are pretty much da same way when it comes ta stuff like that. Besides, now ya know da whole truth, right?" He grinned. "It explain's where ya get yer love complex from, though."

Conan's cheeks reddened as he glared at Heiji. "What's that supposed to mean?!" he and Heiji locked eyes, both standing their ground before they heard a throat clear nearby.

"As amusing as it is to watch you two fight like lovers... I for one would like to hear the rest of the story." Kaito put in.

The two other "teenagers" glanced at Kaito, who was wearing a half bored, half amused expression. They paused for a moment before nodding their heads silently, and sitting back in their respective positions. It was a bit ridiculous when KID was the voice of reason. "Thank you." he said as he turned to face Yusaku once more. "Please continue." he said, motioning for him to go on with his tale.

Yusaku shook his head, chuckling. "To be honest, there isn't much more to tell. After that, Chikage and I managed to calm Yukiko down, and things happened just as Shinichi described them. We talked about you two and came up with this idea."

Kaito and Conan shared an identical knowing, skeptical look. Nonetheless, it seemed that Yusaku was done with his part of the story, so it was time for some others to share. An awkward silence hung in the air.

Surprisingly, Ai was the first to speak up. "Well then, I suppose you're wondering where my involvement with this came in." She said to no one in particular.

Conan turned to her. "Actually...yeah, I kind of was."

"Predictable as always." she said in a completely nonchalant tone. "My part started when I heard about the plan from Agasa… seems Kudo-san didn't really factor in how they were going to make you believe Kaito here was you. I was the one to suggest the use of a fake antidote." she crossed her arms as her eyes lit up evilly.

Conan's eyes widened. He knew that Ai was involved in the plot, but not quite to that extent. This seemed to be news to Heiji as well, though, he had to wonder just how much he had been let in on himself up to this point. Kaito seemed unsurprised by this information, but he never really showed much expression in the first place, so it was hard to tell if he knew or not. He would find out in a minute, as it turns out.

"So, anyway, I told Kudo-san to leave you that note, and it just sort of developed from there. As expected, you took the bait hook, line, and sinker.

... _ **A Taste of His Own Medicine**_ …

Ai Haibara grinned to herself as she walked out of the room where Conan was. It wouldn't take long for the medicine to take effect. Then, from there, the fun would begin.

She sighed a bit to herself. She had even gone so far as to warn him ahead of time about what was going to happen. Well...sort of anyway. Perhaps this would teach him a couple of lessons. He shouldn't be so trusting. That, and he shouldn't be so eager to take a pill that could honestly do more harm than good. She wasn't kidding about the high fatality rate. She knew all too well the consequences of such medicines.

"So, did it work?" Ai nearly jumped out of her shoes as a voice that sounded a lot like Kudo's came out of the shadow's.

She stared at the face before her, before lowering her gaze. "You should know better than to sneak up on someone like that, KID. Especially when you know exactly what that person is capable of."

She glared at KID's form in the dark. She had nearly forgotten about his part in the plot. In exchange for his assistance, he had been offered information that he had been seeking since the train incident where he saved her life. She was still grateful to him for that, but that didn't make her any less wary of him.

KID flinched. "Honestly, Ai-chan. You needn't be so jumpy. You should know better than anyone how I feel about violence… and please call me Kaito. I'm not currently in uniform." he looked at her seriously. It was almost creepy, even to her, how much he resembled Kudo Shinichi. It was pretty clear why Kudo-san had chosen him as the body double for Shinichi.

She wondered briefly, actually, if this boy was a result of a failed cloning experiment. Perhaps she could use him as a test subject one day… nah. She threw away that thought almost instantly, focusing instead on the situation at hand. "To answer your question, why don't you find out for yourself. I'm sure you can manage to sneak in there without being caught." she grinned evilly at him.

Kaito snorted. "Fine. Aren't you curious about the results yourself, Ai-chan?" He lifted an eyebrow at her, standing in the doorway.

Ai sighed shaking her head, but turned to follow him nonetheless. "I don't see the point, but very well." In truth, she was a bit curious as to whether it was effective or not. She could add it to her notes at least.

Kaito smirked, shrugging, he slowly opened the door and quickly snuck up behind the couch where Conan lay passed out. Ai followed slowly behind him. Unable to contain his curiosity, he reached out and prodded Conan's sleeping form. "Wow, he's really out of it. What exactly did you give him?" he glanced at Ai curious while he magically poofed a pillow out of thin air, placing it behind Conan's unconscious form.

Ai chuckled darkly. "A true taste of his own medicine. I gave him the synthetic version of the stuff that goes into his tranquilizer darts." she stared at Conan's sleeping form. He really did deserve it. Even if he may not understand it, in some form it was for his own good.

Kaito whistled a low whistle. "Man, well, I can't say he didn't deserve it." he said, unintentionally echoing Ai's thoughts. "Though, speaking of that dreaded watch…" Kaito slowly bent down, removing Conan's watch and also swiping his other gadgets. "Can't be too careful. Hard to say how he will react once this is over." he shook his head at the sleeping detective. "You know, I almost feel bad about this."

Ai looked up at Kaito curiously, blinking at him confused. What was there to feel bad about? She turned to look at Conan's sleeping form as Kaito replaced the detectives glasses with a pair of identical fake ones. For a moment she felt something resembling a pang of guilt inside her, but the moment quickly passed as Kaito spoke up again.

"So, how long is he going to be out like this?" he asked, as he finished replacing Conan's shoes and belt in a movement almost too swift for Ai to catch.

"Well, I did give him a concentrated dose so it could be anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half." she blinked at him, not quite understanding why he would ask such a question. The other's were due to arrive relatively shortly by her understanding. Certainly before the time limit. She was about to ask why when she saw Kaito's face light up with a wide grin she had seen so often plastered on tv stations across town.

"Want to draw on his face?" Kaito grinned expectantly down at Ai.

Ai blinked back up at him. Was he being serious? That look...yeah he was being totally serious. "You know that will give us away." Not that it didn't sound like a fun idea...

Kaito shook his head, continuing to grin. "Two words; 'Magic. Marker.'. Great for pranking purposes. It can only be viewed under black light after it dries which takes about five minutes." he twirled a marker around his hand before holding it out to Ai.

She took it in her hand, her face slowly turning up in her own version of a grin. Oh, but she was going to have fun with this.

 _ **...**_

Conan stared at Ai wide-eyed as he listened to her recount her part in the prank. "You didn't." he said, staring at her in wide eyed horror.

The room was filled to the brim with snickers as the rest of the group tried to withhold their laughter. Heiji was having the worst time of it nearly losing it despite covering his mouth.

"Why don't you go find out for yourself." Ai said with the same tone she had used earlier with KID.

He blinked before sprinting to get his miniature detective kit, and then running to the bathroom. He prayed to every god he knew that KID hadn't done something horrible to his face.

The scream of "KID!" could be heard all the way from down in the sitting room. There were chortles of laughter emanating from several figures in the room though Kaito himself was surprisingly silent. Conan was scarier than an angry Nakamori. He thought to himself. Still...Kaito broke into a grin. Worth it.

Heiji came up behind Kaito and patted him on the back laughing. "Ya know what Kuroba-han? Yer alright in my book…" he paused. "Though I woul' get runnin' if I were you." he lowered his eyebrows. "It's never a good idea ta cross an angry detective."

As if to answer that thought there was a "woosh" sound, as an object shaped a lot like a soccer ball went flying past the spot where Kaito had just been standing. There in the entrance stood a very red faced detective. He currently had his hands on the recently returned power shoes, and belt which he was prepping for another attack.

"Aww... Why'd you sell me out Ai-chan?! That was supposed to be our little secret!" He dodged another incoming ball doing some rather fancy acrobatic maneuvers.

Yukiko cried out in horror, as one of the soccer balls nearly hit one of her favorite vases. It was a miracle nothing had broken yet with the way those soccer balls were aimed and fired. "Shinichi Kudo! You know better than to shoot soccer ball's in the house!" She moved towards her son as he glared up at Kaito, who was cornered in the edge of the room sitting precariously atop a bookshelf. "That's quite enough young man!" she declared and before he could protest she grabbed him by the waist and lifted him from behind plopping him down on her lap.

He tried his best to squirm away, but to no avail. His mom held him in one of her death grips. He heard Heiji snicker at the situation, but he was quickly silenced by a glare in his direction.

"There now." Yukiko said as Conan finally gave up struggling. "Shin-chan you know very well Kai-chan didn't mean any harm doing what he did. Besides you looked cute sleeping like that." Yukiko giggled and Conan blushed.

Yukiko smiled down at her shrunken son before turning to address Kaito. "You can come down now Kai. Just make sure not to make a mess on your way down. Oh and don't forget to apologize to Shin-chan for what you did."

Kaito glanced between Yukiko and the still blushing Conan. It would seem the coast was clear for now. Slowly hopping down and landing on his hands and feet like a cat, he stood up and made his way to the chair furthest from where Conan was sitting locked in his mother's arms. Putting up the best poker face he could muster he smiled at Conan. "I'm sorry I drew on your face while you were asleep. I took advantage of the moment when I shouldn't have." his voice was quiet as he recited the words. In truth he still didn't really regret it. Though right now it was probably a smart idea to keep his mouth shut about such thoughts.

Conan shook his head and sighed. His cheeks still tinged with red from a mixture of anger and embarrassment "No...once again it was my own fault for being taken advantage of. I suppose I should have expected as such from the likes of you." he gave Kaito a half smile. In truth he couldn't stay mad with the thief even if he wanted to. No harm, no foul. It was a stupid prank, but much tamer in comparison to what the one currently holding him had pulled.

"Right. Well now with that being settled I suppose it's my turn to tell a piece of the story." Yukiko spoke up her tone chipper once more.

Conan shifted a bit in her arms. Truth be told he was getting a bit tired. Still he refused to fall asleep again with Kaito around. Knowing the rest of the company here, they would most likely also do far worse than drawing kitty whiskers and a nose on his face. He listened as his mother began to regale her portion of the prank.

"Right so while Ai-chan here was working on giving you the 'antidote' your father and I were already planning for phase two of the plan."

... _ **Alls Fair in Love and Pranks**_ …

Yukiko sat meticulously messing around with her husband's mask and wig. "Sit still my love or we will never get this done!" she whined as she smoothed out the mask for the umpteenth time.

"Forgive me for not enjoying this as much as you are darling." Yusaku replied as he flinched at his wife's rough touch. He didn't mind pulling one over on Shinichi, but he only wished his wife would stop fussing over the details of his disguise. True, he was no Toichi Kuroba, but he could pull off a character disguise in a pinch. He had done so before after all.

"There!" she said admiring her work. She grinned as she stared at the face of a greying middle aged man who no longer resembled her husband. His moustache was covered by the thick mask and he wore a pair of specially made colored contacts that allowed him to see. Chikage had helped her pick this particular disguise, using some special material that came from unknown sources. Kaito-kun had apparently also helped with the selection though what part he played she couldn't be certain.

Yusaku admired himself in his wife's hand mirror. "Not bad." he said smiling to himself. "A little scraggy for my taste...but still I'm sure it will fool our son quite easily." He chuckled to himself.

Yukiko shook her head. "Oh, nearly forgot!" she reached into her bag and pulled out an unsightly looking maroon necktie. "This is Doctor Agasa's contribution. It will help hide your voice." She attached it lightly to Yusaku's shirt.

Yusaku adjusted it a bit so that it lined up in the correct way. He tested it with a "Hello." to hear a man's voice echo through it a tone lighter than his own. "It works." he said grinning and he gave his wife a light kiss. "You should hurry back to the house before Agasa reveals the truth too soon. No doubt our son is grilling him for information."

Yukiko smiled "Oh Yu-chan you are just too much." she giggled with excitement. "I'll send Shin-chan and the others your way then."

Yusaku nodded. "Hattori-kun is on stand by here as well. I'll see you later Yukiko. Be careful out there."

Yukiko gave her husband a look that spoke innocence. "I always am!" she grinned and rushed out the door.

People always got on her about her driving skills. Well she couldn't really help it if they couldn't keep up with her. She was just was always in a hurry. Besides her husband _had_ warned her to be careful. So she was...careful enough to avoid any cop car's. It would be really awkward if she were caught by one of her husband's old friends.

Yukiko sped quietly into the Kudo mansion driveway. She quickly parked and rushed over to Agasa's place. Good thing she had too because just as Shinichi was about to get something out of Agasa… "Ah, Agasa I've come to return some... Oh Conan-kun, Fumiyo-san I didn't know you were visiting! What a pleasant surprise!" she fell easily into character, and watched her son's priceless reaction. She needed all her acting skills not to burst out laughing at her son's obvious confusion. Seemed the prank was working like a charm. She had momentarily distracted her son's attention.

Kaito was quick as well to step further into character. She had to admit Kaito had most definitely inherited his father's acting skills. He quickly picked up on Shinichi's attitude, playing the part to a tee. It wasn't all that surprising though. Chikage had let slip that apparently Kai-chan had met up with Shin-chan a few times at his "work-place", wherever that was. Yukiko wasn't even aware Kaito had a job.

As expected Shinichi turned on the next possible candidate for answers Ai-chan. Yukiko giggled to herself whispering "Young love" as the two of them walked away hand in hand.

Quickly she dropped into a discussion with Chikage and Kaito about the next course of action.

"Kai, it's pretty obvious Shinichi is already suspicious. You need to make sure things stay on track until the reveal." Chikage whispered in a serious tone.

Kaito put his hand up in a mock salute. "Roger that. So you want me to take them out to lunch at Kudo-san's place right?"

Yukiko nodded. "Careful not to sound too excited Kai-chan. You could end up giving yourself away."

Kaito sighed. "Yeah, I know Tantei-kun has a penchant for seeing right through me. I'll be careful I promise." he grinned and casually strolled like Shinichi over to the kitchen. Yukiko and Chikage watched him as he went.

"Well I suppose I should be going..." Yukiko said backing away. "Keep an eye on them all, okay Chikage-san?"

Chikage nodded. "Sure thing. What are 'police officers' for?" Chikage winked as she slipped into her Sato voice.

Yukiko chuckled. It was all up to the rest of them now.

 _ **...**_

PART 1 END

 _ **So how was it? I apologize this has to be in multiple parts but tbh I'm going to have to work around the whole "case" thing again next part. I haven't decided just how much I want to show yet, but needless to say Heiji will finally explain HIS role in the story…**_

 _ **I hope you all enjoyed this piece of crazy nonsense. I'll get the next part up when I get the chance just don't expect it right away. Until then this author loves reviews/comments. If you have the time please leave one for me. Its much appreciated!**_

 _ **Until next time!**_


End file.
